Blood on the Hands of a Healer
by DCD10unite
Summary: Set in the aftermath of Ex-Aid Episode 27, pediatrician and former gamer prodigy Emu Hojo encountered a new crisis in the form of a pop culture figure coming to real life and threatening it. Joined with the benevolent figures of the same background, Emu must solve the crises that transpire altogether. But with a seemingly uneasy alliance, can he prevail as Kamen Rider Ex-Aid?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Load Game Plus

**Disclaimer: I do not own both Kamen Rider and Re:Creators as they both belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

Siblings...a pack of reliable bunch.

One may consider that they are your first friends before you depart to the society. Despite so, their bonds are far deeper than friends. You argue. You agree. You fought. You love. Yet, you remain close with them. Look deeper… and observe…

"Hey, Emu?" Asked a little girl with glasses and black hair as she looked over the shoulder of a slightly younger boy with the same matching hair color.

"Yes, sis?"

"What are you drawing?" She questioned with all of the curiosity of your average nine-year old.

"Oh, this?" The now named Emu showed his drawing, gleefully telling, "These are the Mighty Brothers! I drew it in case we're gonna have another brother!"

"That's cool! Hey, can I be one of them, too?"

"What? Nu-uh, you can't! Not in here!"

"But I want to be one of the Mighty Brothers, too!" The girl pouted, causing Emu to laugh.

"Hahaha, I'm just kidding! My drawing here is too big, though. Maybe I'll go get another paper so I can fit you in it, too!"

"Okay." She sighed in relief and gratefulness. "Still, your drawing is nice! You could be an artist for this!"

"I want to be a gamer. Oh wait, maybe I can make a game on my own!" the boy resolved.

"You sure will, my brother. You sure will."

He nodded. "Do you like drawing too, sis?"

"Of course!" She happily answered, entering an dream-like trance as she elaborated. "One day, I'll make a beautiful drawing that can impress everyone! And I hope I can impress you!"

"Impress me? Oh, that's if you don't wanna lose from me!"

"Gosh, are we really going on a rivalry, now?"

"You're my big sister, right?" The boy challenged, putting down his crayon and standing up to look his big sister in the eye. "That's why I don't wanna lose from you! I wanna impress you, too!"

"Oh I see." The girl grinned widely at that claim, going on to offer a handshake. "Okay! May the best sibling win, then!"

"Alright! May the best win!" He accepted the agreement of rivalry and clasped his hand with his sister's, matching her own smile with his own.

* * *

_Seventeen Years Later..._

The year was 2017, and the now 24-year old Emu Hojo stood in front of a cemetery.

It has been a rough day for the intern in his days as a Kamen Rider. Though the last fight ended up in his favor, he was still in terms of uneasy allies with Taiga and Nico, who aimed to claim the victory for themselves. This was still unsettling, even though he still had Hiro who stood by him for good terms while Poppy was gone. Fortunately, he still had a lot of time off to look for a fresh air, and that was when he decided to visit…

"Hey, sis."

Emu paused, staying silent as if he were to expect an greeting back before continuing on.

"It's been months since the last time I visited you. I recently got back from my internship, something that you'd probably dreamed of for me, and… yelled at me to look for. Hehe...I had to say that the skills I learned as a doctor didn't go to waste. I mean, look at me now; I got to wear a white doctor coat over my favorite clothes! Young doctors surely gets all the attention from kids, no?"

Once again, he paused before moving forward.

"Anyway, here's the thing. There's so much that I want to tell you…so many things that had been going on since I grabbed that belt and became a Kamen Rider. About how exciting …and horrifying it was at the same time. It was like – I dunno – my fantasies coming to life?"

"You see, I get to use these powers of games developed by Genm Corp., something that'd probably get my little self riled up. I mean imagine the games that we had played since our childhood coming to life! Hell, even VR was still leagues below from this! Though, It was rather unfortunate that it also has a risk of… death. A friend of mine was its victim. He was killed in the day where it was supposed to be of joy. I know how ironic it was… I know it all too well, especially since…well, you know."

"But hey, at least I still get to fight another day. I got these cool power ups so that I can still keep up with the Bugsters that also gradually become stronger. The thing is, they also involved civilians. And as much as I hate to say it… they're dumb enough to play a game that bets on their lives like a gamble. And even after they knew, they're still willing to fight in hopes of getting the lost ones back. But that's just human nature, isn't it?"

"That's why I can still say that the same also goes for me. I know I was dumb back then, and… maybe even until now. But the fact that I'm still standing here is the proof that I got better over time. I got a job, a decent profit, gaming skills , and I can look after myself. Especially, since I can somehow feel that our world is turning into a jungle."

Emu looks up into the air, taking a moment to appreciate the bright stars that lit up the night sky.

"But, even now… I still wish you were here, Setsuna."

* * *

As the evening passed, Emu walked home as he passed through a side bus with an anime he seemed to recognize from his days of internet surfing.

Its name was "Elemental Symphony of Vogelchevalier", which was currently popular among youngsters. It was an anime that mixed the elements of medieval, magic, and most of all, mecha genre. As a fan of gaming and pop culture himself, Emu would surely try to find a free time and dig out some infos, including reviews, fanarts, games, and such. Although, he also had to balance it with his business as an intern.

"Vogelchevalier, huh? Guess I should give it a shot tonight." He said to himself as he was still up after his nap at the CR Center.

After a few minutes, he had finally arrived at his apartment, with only him around and his mother on the other side of the city. He was fortunate to have already become a young man capable of independence and self-initiative, and true to his occupation, his room was tidy. It might not be made for upper-class luxury, but its more than comfortable preset was to his preference. The room's size was just what an above average apartment room would look like. There was a sofa, flat TV, kitchen, and two bedrooms, although one was prepared in case he had a guest.

He then walked towards his room, filled with lots of Genm Corp. game posters ranging from Mighty Action X and all the way to Drago Knight Hunter Z. Those were the first games that the gaming corporation had released for the first time. They were incredibly popular despite the pixel graphic due to its ever-changing levels, customizations, and even rewards that enabled you to buy exclusive contents. Recently, those games were weaponized by the Riders in order to combat the Bugsters, who kept evolving from time to time. They had also become more organized, in which the heroes must be wary of.

But, time out's a time out, isn't it?

And so, he took his PC tablet and began browsing through a lot of things, ranging from fanarts to streaming services. Usually, he'd see the former tab because it always reminded him of his late sister, who loved drawing and making characters. She even said that one day, she'd make her creation into an anime. He was also reminded by his promise to Setsuna that he would fill his life with joy and happiness as she always told him in the past days, in which he became a doctor in the first place. Surfing through the net had always been his way to remind him of his good memories he spent with his dear sister.

Until…

Well, best not to dwell on that.

He found a direct link to Vogelchevalier which took him less than a minute to find. Internet services had always been this handy ever since globalization took over the world, so he might as well use the advantage. That also got himself to know the said anime. He looked at its ongoing episode list, which ended in 26.

"Oh well. Looks like this week's episode hasn't come out yet." He then gazed towards its poster, in which he set his sight on a particular character. "Ahh… Selesia's still as cute as always. No wonder Poppy was so jealous at her."

Selesia Yupitilia was Vogelchevalier's main heroine. She was famous among the hearts of young men. Although Emu wasn't as infatuated as they were, he could judge that Selesia have a good character after spending his time watching its series. She was strong, brave, and chivalrous as a knight would be.

However, a sudden static on the pad's scene startled the intern the moment he streamed its latest episode, which turned into a PC error blue screen. He was afraid if something really went wrong with his smartpad. He knocked the screen to make sure it all again. All seemed normal at the first few seconds, then the screen began to display numerous texts of various languages; German, Thai, Hindi, you name it. He was never the one who took language lessons other than English back in his earlier days. The smartpad was then engulfed in a blue Bugster-like static, taking him by surprise that forced him to drop the pad to the floor.

When the light died down, Emu subconsciously knew that everything would never be the same.

All of his surroundings, his own room, was changed into what seemed to be a medieval setting. He found himself standing on top of a huge water body. he checked the rest of his surroundings, and spotted a bridge and a castle nearby. Could a new strain of the Bugster Virus be doing this? It probably sent him to another world that wasn't the Game one, or it could be projecting whatever that might happen in the future. The scenery then went back to his own room again, with his smartpad displaying Selesia who appeared to be on a cockpit.

"You... what on earth is that? Charon? Charon!"

Emu blinked at the all-too familiar voice that echoed through out the area.

"Okaaay, that was weiIIIIRD! OMIGOSH! WHAT THE HELL!?"

A giant white robot appeared behind him all of the sudden. It had several red markings and and a giant horn on its head, carrying a giant sword on its right arm. He recognized that robot all too well. It was the mechsuit Vogelchevalier, indeed. The mech flew above him as if it was about to attack something in front of him. However, the mech was thrown back and barely able to regain its stand by using its thrusters and skidding on the water body.

"It's strong!" Selesia observed from inside the cockpit, clearly not expecting such strong opposition.

"Strong? Who would..." Emu turned his back to what seemed to be a person. "Oh."

In front of Emu was a white-haired girl who was wearing a fantasy-like military outfit with a big hat on top of her twin tail hairdo, wearing a pair of iron gauntlets to finish the look.

A look that seems to be much more familiar than Emu was comfortable with, yet could not fathom way.

Wanting to ignore that dark feeling in his gut, he checked back on his dropped smartpad, seeing Selesia who was still inside the robot.

"You bitch!" Selesia charged the albino once again by thrusting the mech's sword, only to be blocked by the latter's sheer mysterious force barrier. and that was the exact scene that played on the smartpad. Emu, however, couldn't help but feel amazed despite the normal feeling of the crapping of the pants that would be normally called for in this kind of situation. He looked at the clashing warriors again, scratching his head. "What on earth is going on!?"

"Yes, my master really likes you too, Your Highness, Selesia Yupitilia." The girl mused outloud as she somehow whipped the giant mech away with her cutlass swords that were aligned to form a whip. "It seems that you still do not fully understand my power yet. Shall I demonstrate you the power of my Holopsicon? I would be very much obliged if I could just carve it on your body."

The military girl summoned a Tommy gun and picked one of the cutlasses that were spinning around her. She put up a gesture like that of a violin player. Just as it suggested, she scratched her cutlass on the rifle's back, causing a massive shockwave that hit Vogelchevalier. The mech suddenly crumbled into numerous blue pixel cubes, leaving Selesia alone to face the adversary without her greatest weapon.

"The Holopsicon is omnipotent. Everything flows in the power of eternal reincarnation. Dust to life, life to ashes. Thus, the world returns her once more."

"Heh, nice sad poem." Emu muttered. He then put his a bit static pad up to see the exact scene occurring once again. "Then again...VR tech has never been this good, before. Not even Genm Corp could do this on a whim..."

"Such nonsense, coming from you! Just because I lost Vogelchevalier, I...!"

Selesia unsheathed a sword grip that soon summoned its edge once it was taken out. The military girl responded by flinging her cutlasses to her. The former easily blocked them with her sword. However, Emu himself was defenseless as the cutlasses had almost hit him directly, cutting his cheek ever so slightly.

"Whoaaa!" He exclaimed. "Looks like I should-"

"You there! Get down, now!"

The female warrior dove towards Emu to further drag him away from the attack. In a slight moment, he witnessed the surprised face that the military girl had. Could it be that he knew that person somehow? The smartpad he held began to act up again, glowing in blue and covered them with blue pixels. The girl threw her cutlass to her targets, only for them to disappear, leaving her in Vogelchevalier's world of fantasy.

Emu and Selesia were teleported safely to Emu's room, where his broken-screen smartpad lied on top of the magazine that displayed both her and Charon, the male protagonist as its cover.

Shaking off his head at the landing, Emu looked up at Selesia, who had seemingly fainted and breathing heavily from the fatigue. He checked her body composure and her otherwordly garments that didn't seem to came out of cosplay materials. He slowly got her grip off from her, and went out from his room to the kitchen.

But not before closing the door and lifted her to his bed, of course. He was raised better than that after all.

"Oh God... Oh God, oh God, this... this is just..."

He picked up a milk box and poured the fresh vanilla liquid to his "Mighty Action X" mug and drank from it, an habit he had since childhood. He was also heavily breathing from the very surprise that had occured to him. Feeling his cheek with an finger and seeing blood on it, he saw that the cut on that he earned from the attack was very...REAL. Then again, he still had to focus on the main event at hand.

"Okay, Emu Hojo. Calm yourself down. There's nothing really wrong here, just uhh... a girl... named Selesia Yupitilia... just saved you from that girl and entered your room. Now where have I seen that girl before? Oh, never mind that, dude!" He muttered quickly, slapping both of his hands to his head to get his act back together. "Okay, ahem, now, let's just go back to your room, and..."

He opened his bedroom to see Selesia, who had just woke up and had her sword ready with a battle stance.

She was really there, the very Seleisa Yupitilia.

One part of the Genius Gamer was fanboying at such fantasy being reality now, while the other, far more sensible part could only see a girl who knew exactly how to use that dangerous sword in her hands.

Okay, one step at a time then.

Calling upon the practices of his pediatrician training, Emu smiled at Celesia like he would any patient of his, "Hi there!" he greeted, pathetically an small part of his mind cynically added.

Selesia for her part didn't seemed to be convinced by his friendly behavior. She suddenly rushed towards him and had her sword pinned to his neck and his back against the open door.

Crap, wrong move! "Okay, listen. I may not be the most heartwarming welcoming committee here, but please calm down and make yourself at home, here!" Emu insisted, eyes darting back and forth from the fiery redhead the incredibly sharp sword at his neck.

Still not convinced, she closed the bedroom's door and turned the lamp on without once breaking contact with Emu on any front, pinning the young hospital intern to the door even harder.

"Are you one of her allies?" She interrogated.

"Ally?" She pressed her knee to his crotch and her sword further to his neck. "Ow! Please, let's not go there!"

"How do you know my name? Where is Charon!? The enemy's wave chant doesn't have the power to transport us like this, so where the hell are we!?"

"Y- you're in my room... and th-that..." he pointed at his broken pad. "Is how we got here."

"What's with that broken machine? Who are you!?"

"I am REALLY starting to feel my blood flowing...and not in the way that can be taken out of context."

"The same opinion goes to mine. Send me back to Earthmelia, now!"

"Earthmelia? Oh, Vogelchevalier's setting. I get it, now."

Not convinced again, she further threatened him to the point of her sword almost slitting up his neck.

"Oh, would you please calm down?! I have nothing to do with this,and I still don't fully believe what's happening right now, okay!?" he half-shouted as he had already been pushed to the edge. "Now, could you please lower your weapon and be more cool about this? Because I'm not here to hurt you, for God's sake."

Seeing the sincerity of this, Selesia slowly complied by backing herself away with her weapon still pointed on him. "Fine, but that doesn't mean I trust you, now."

"Of course. But how do I even..." an idea suddenly struck in his head. He sighed, "Okay listen, I really like your show. It's the best show of the season, and that fight with a heavy machinery iron clump on episode three was amazing. How's that?"

"What in the world are you-?" she was the struck by a realization. "You must be talking about Eizenkavalier. What does this all mean? At the time, no one except me, Charon, and that iron clump you talk about. I've never even of the wave chant that is able to see that far away. So, how do you know about it?"

"Because, uhh...you're from an anime that I was about to watch?"

"...Huh?"

"Just listen to me, okay!?" He ran towards his magazine to show her several illustrations from the Vogelchevalier corner. "Look at this. And this. All of these, you're from here!"

Selesia took the magazine from him. "What is this?"

"The original story! I think I also bought it around a month ago, but where-? Oh, here it is!" he found the book from his bag and showed it to her. It had an illustration of several Vogelchevalier characters including her. "See? this is you!"

"Wh...wha-?"

"Let me read some of its passage. Ahem: 'If you're not sure of yourself, then follow me. and so, you'll be the one who protects my back'. How's that?"

Selesia gasped in surprise. Her face evidently turned red in embarrassment. "That's what Charon said to me! how do you know that, too!?"

"It's here! See?"

"So uhh, long story short, you and I have arrived in a world where people see your journey, your stories, and even your romance in your world. This is a place where imagination runs free and comes to life, like literally right now. We know about you, Charon, Vogelchevalier, your enemies, and even your character developments throughout every single of your journey." He then stretched his hands in a showman manner. "In other words, welcome to my world, planet Earth."

The female warrior's face grew more red. He knew it all! Her moments with Charon, and not to mention everything he said to her! This is unbelievable, again! She slumped to the floor, unable to handle the very revelation she had just heard. She wasn't even in Earthmelia anymore, and she had to deal by that fact all alone. And there she was, buried deep in embarrassment by mere words from her... friend.

"So uhh... does coffee sound good for you?" Emu offered, having the decency to look sheepish at that.

* * *

_A few moments later..._

Emu served a cup of coffee over regular white cup. It was mixed with his milk and a few sugar to add its sweetness. After finishing up, he heads over to the table where his guest is sitting, sword on lap.

Selesia had to admit herself that it smelled really good from where she was, this "homebrew coffee". Cautiously, Celesia picked up the steaming cup set before her by its handle, taking a slow sip. Her eyes widened at the unique taste and she felt very refreshed it made her feel.

"Ooh! This... this is so good!"

"Thanks. Glad you can cool off, although it's not a cold drink, heheh..."

"I humbly apologize for earlier. I should've known that you meant no harm from the beginning." Selesia apologized.

"Oh, it's no big deal! I mean, given the circumstances from Earthmelia, I can sort of understand your ordeals back there." Emu said.

"W-well then... thank you for being so understanding." she sheepishly replied. There was an air of silent, with Selesia filled with uncertainty as she drank her coffee. Perhaps, she was the one who had never been the most welcoming person, after all. "So, you said that this is a world where imagination runs free and comes to life, right?"

"More or less. I mean in this world, there's no such thing as magic chants and huge battle mechsuits like in yours. Everything here is technology-based. But like I said, some people are entitled in making fictional worlds like Earthmelia, bundled in a TV anime show called 'Elemental Symphony of Vogelchevalier', based on the name of your robot."

"So, does that mean I'm also fictional, here? Like, I was a creation of someone from this place... planet Earth?"

"You could say so." Emu nodded after drinking out of his cup. "But as to how you're able to enter this world, I'm afraid that's totally out of my league at the moment."

"I see. Well, I bet that he's so powerful that he could create Earthmelia as I know of now." Selesia commented, taking another sip of her coffee.

"It's not like he has some magical powers of sort, mind you. I mean, most people here are just... ordinary. They might not be that almighty as you thought, but I can only say for sure that imagination is the most powerful aspect of human. Only by that, we're able to create many incredible things, and survive 'til this very moment."

"Ooh..." Selesia was amazed by the pediatrician's explanation. "Umm, anyway... can you please tell me about yourself? I never get the chance to ask it before."

"My name is Emu Hojo. I am a pediatrician, a doctor who specializes in children care." He stated as professionally as someone of his status could, pulling out his Seito University Hospital ID and handing it to Selesia.

"A doctor? Is it like a healer?" She questioned, giving the card in her hand a good look over.

"Only without healing spells, of course. Oh, and I'm also a professional gamer, well... former professional gamer who competes in national gaming contest."

"A doctor and a gamer? Hmm, I didn't quite get the last part, but it seems that you're a busy person for having such jobs."

"Pediatrician is my current occupation, while gaming is my hobby thank you very much."

"Hm. I suppose we can all use one." Selesia said, handing Emu's ID back, "So, a pediatrician you say?"

"Yes?"

"Remember that time when she attacked us? For a moment back then, I felt like you were about to do some means of counter attack. I was kind of wondering what it might be. Could you happen to have that sort of power you speak of? Something tells me that you're not that much of a healer."

"R-really?" Emu sighed. "Well, as expected of you, Selesia." He puts his cup down before folding his hands "Okay... how do I say it? you see, I'm-"

A bright light appearing from the kitchen's window interrupts that line of explanation. The light soon formed into blue pixels, which then gave form of the very girl in the military uniform, shocking both Emu and Selesia.

"Your level of confusion was quite mild." The girl observed. "I was certain to expect nothing less from you, Selesia Yupitillia of 'Elemental Symphony of Vogelchevalier'. How impressive."

Selesia response was to pry open the window by stabbing her sword to it, much to the owner's dismay. "Hey, I just cleaned that window, Selesia!"

Ignoring Emu's remarks, Selesia glared daggers at the floating girl before her. "Who the hell are you!?"

"Would my name be the answer you are seeking for?"

"Answer me, Magician of the Avalon Brigade!"

"Avalon Brigade?" The girl echoed, understanding coming over her features. "Oh, I see. that must be the enemy forces you are fighting against in your world. Just so you know; I am not affiliated to them, nor they even exist in this world."

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch." Emu muttered.

"And this is the most important thing: you are not from this world, Selesia."

"So I've been told." Selesia replied, sparing a glace to Emu.

The girl smirked, knowing that this had saved her explanation a lot. "But still, the occurrence of you being transported to here is truly a curious development. Now, do you really want to know how you arrived here?"

"Now THAT I most certainly do."

"It is none other than I, who summoned you here. I summoned you and induced your manifestation. Welcome to the horrific world of the Gods of pleasure." The girl explained ominously.

Emu stood up from his seat. "Y'know, it's too late for any welcoming speeches, young lady. I welcomed her first, and what was that again? 'The Horrific World of the Gods of Pleasure'? Seriously, you really got the knack to have that kind of point of view. Now, where did you get that from? Poem sheet? Library? And don't say that you got the 'pleasure' part from Kama Sutra."

"What in the world are you even talking about?" Selesia sweatdropped.

The girl laughed. "Ahahaha! Such a mouthful babble from YOU of all people. You sure had lots of things inside that huge brain of yours, aren't you now... Emu Hojo?"

"Y-you know my name?" Emu staggered, feeling the crawling chills over his body, immediately grabbing his chair for protection. "Oh... don't tell me you were one of the stalkers that my Social Hub warned about!"

"Seriously, are you incapable of just paying attention to the matter at hand!?"

"Shall I tell your new friend about what you hide in your browser history? Or maybe even...under your bed?"

"YOU HAVE NO PROOF OF WHAT I HAVE!" Emu shouted in denial before remembering just who was next to him. "B-but it's not like I have something that actually important there, I can tell you that much. Hehe..."

"Ughhh! This is getting nowhere!" Selesia frustratedly groaned.

"Now, where are we, hmm? Ah, that's right." The girl then continued her dialogue, turning back to Selestia. "Your Highness, I suggest you to come with me. this is for your own good. I shall explain the details later."

"I refuse!"

"And why is that so?"

"Because someone who laughs like that is NOT someone I want to come with. I don't trust you at all!"

"Please, we are in need of a conversation here." The girl summoned a blue magical rune that summoned her cutlass.

"Not in my apartment!" Emu whined once again.

"Then let's take this somewhere else! Come!"

"W-wait! what're you going to-?"

"We're going to fly."

"What!? Whooaaaa!"

Selesia grabbed Emu's hand and literally took a flight from the balcony. Emu was surprised at how it went on at first, but he tried to hold himself together as he had already taken flight on his own before. Luckily, he didn't get an airsick, and he used this chance to take a look for somewhere out in the open.

"Okay... okay. Focus Hojo, focus!" he said to himself.

"What is it?" Selesia asked without looking at her passenger, noticing Emu's loud mumbling.

"I'm trying to find somewhere open and away from any residence! I remember there's a park here, but uhh..." he said until he spotted and pointed at the aforementioned location. "Oh, there it is! we can take the fight there!"

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah! It's already 9 o'clock and the park's already empty at this point! There won't be any bystanders nearby!" Emu confirmed.

"Good! Then this won't be that hard!" Selesia sped up her flight to the aforementioned location.

"Umm, about that 'hard' part, you might wanna hurry 'cause our perp's catching up on us!" Emu said as they were about to be rained down by the military girl's cutlasses.

"What!? How did she even get here so fast!?" Selesia dodged the raining swords and even forced to shield herself with her sword. However, one problem remains with the defenseless Emu who didn't seem to have a weapon of his own.

Until...

"Can you fly faster than this?"

"This is as fast as I can go!" Selesia replied.

"In that case...!"

Emu then took out a lime-colored device that turned out to be a belt once he strapped it on. On of its notable features were its pink handle that also covered its mid-section, two slots on the left and another separate slot on his left waist with two orange holders. On the holders also materialized two cartridge like devices, one pink 'Mighty Action X' and the other red Gekitotsu Robots' Gashats.

Just as a cutlass was directed to Emu himself, a circling thumbnail appeared on him. It depicted a stylized hammer with 'A' and 'B' buttons, along with a solid spiky pink swing effect on top of it. he quickly drew it out once it reached his right hand and knocked its 'A' button to his thigh.

_**GASHACON BREAKER!**_

_**JA-KIIN!**_

The pediatrician successfully blocked the incoming cutlass with his words and countless others of it, too. Selesia was also surprised at how adept Emu was in dealing with this sort of situation.

"Whoa! How-?!"

"How close are we?" he asked as he batted away more and more cutlass aiming to send the duo crashing.

"Just a little closer! We should be able too - LOOK OUT!"

All of the sudden, the military girl was already in front of them with her violin position ready. She sled her cutlass, causing a massive shockwave that sent the two down to the ground.

"Hold on tight!"

Selesia quickly took Emu into her arms and cushioned him from the landed on a red car, which turned out to still had its male driver inside. Luckily enough, they were already nearby the park.

"H-hey, the hell's going on, man!?" The man squeaked.

"You need to get out of here, right now!" Emu ordered, his weapon still in hand.

"Uhh, why would I have to do that?" The man questioned, looking back and forth from Emu and his weapon.

"Because... that's why." Emu pointed at the descending girl with her cutlass circling around her, grinning menacingly.

"I-Is that a new Bugster from Kamen Rider Chronicle?"

"Kamen Rider...Chronicle?" Selesia overheard.

"No clue, but I'll try to look for it." Emu promised to the man, currently ignoring Selesia's curiosity, "In the meantime, you should run away from here as fast as you can. Doctor's orders."

"Okay then! I...I stopped playing that game alright?"

"Good. Now go!"

At that, the man ran away as far as he could. Emu looked around to see if there's still any citizens nearby, confirming that there were none left. The redhead warrior, on the other hand, was still astonished by what Emu had been holding in his hand, never seeing a hammer design quite like it.

"Oh? Quite an extraordinary skill you have, Emu Hojo." The girl in the military dress praised condescendingly from, floating closer down to her two prey, "But as much as I want to appraise you, I'd really appreciate it if you both could save me the trouble."

At this, Selesia went in front of her new friend, sword in hand and ready to directly confront her chaser, though not before ask Emu some very important questions.

"Emu, just...what is that weapon? Who are you really? And what's with that 'Kamen Rider Chronicle'?" She questioned slowly, no breaking her gaze from her air bound opponent.

"It's...not really something I am capable of explaining with just words alone."

"'If I win, then let me have my way with you'." The military girl in the dress injected, staying in place as she elaborated, "Is that what I should say? To be honest with you, I despise such simple negotiations, but if you insist on following such protocol, then I'd be happy to oblige. I can change my customs to your liking, too." The girl boasted, readying her weapons as Selesia did the same.

"Selesia..." Emu then laid his weapon onto the ground, piercing through a bit of the street's concrete. "About who I really am...I'm gonna explain it here and now."

At that claim, Selesia looked back just in time to see Emu take out what looked like an odd green belt with the lever is located on the left side; the Gamer Driver. Her surprise increased when he lowered the device and saw it attach itself to his waisted right before Emu drew forth an pink cartridge- like device from his pocket.

Before Selesia could ask just what in the world of those were, Emu pressed the button on the device in his hand.

_**MIGHTY ACTION X!**_

The Gashat's game screen then appeared behind Emu. Much to the outlanders' shock, the environment was suddenly surrounded by pink pixel waves that the screen omitted. The area was filled with coin-like Energy Items with various illustrations. At first, the environment was pixellated for a moment.

"Oh?" The girl in the air mused, dropping her smile for the first time.

"E-Emu, what is the meaning of this?" Selesia asked, looking around wildly at the items appearing out of no where.

"This is what I've been meaning to explain before that perp showed up." Emu answered calmly. "As ordinary as our world may seem, some people are also entrusted as Earth's protectors, with my kind granted with extraordinary videogame powers to defeat a lethal virus that has been looming over this world."

"Protectors? Virus?"

"Perhaps this can enlighten you both a bit." Emu grinned as he went on a pose and chanted his magic word. "Henshin!"

He lifted his Gashat high with his left hand and placed it on the first slot of his Gamer Driver.

_**GASHATTO!**_

_**LET'S GAME! METCHA GAME! MUTCHA GAME! WHAT'S YOUR NAME?**_

A series of portraits appear that surrounds him in a circle, with Emu streching his arm in front to select the one with the vibrant pink hair using her right hand.

_**I'M A KAMEN RIDER!**_

He was then engulfed in a pink pixel light that formed into a bulky body. it was then enhanced by a pink wafe that went from the bottom to the top, turning the pixellated body into a white chibi bulky armor. it had the looks of what you might call as a mascot suit. The helmet had a unique design with a spiky pink hair and a pair of googles. a pair of digital yellow eyes were opened from the google, which implied that they were emotive.

"I am the fighter champion of the game world, defender of Earth, Kamen Rider Ex-Aid!" He declared by striking his arm-up victory pose, his hammer in hand now. However...

To say Selesia Yupitilia was dumbfounded by the Rider's appearance would be like saying the ocean was little wet.

Never in her life had never seen such warrior fighting in a clown suit, for the lack of better word.

"Wha-what on earth is that!?"

"I'm Kamen Rider Ex-Aid. Something wrong?" Emu nonchalantly responded, tilting his head innocently.

"It's your armor! All that spectacle, and you're actually a clown-suit wearer!? How do you even expect to survive in a situation like this!?"

"This is not a clown-suit!" he justified. "This is an over-the-top full body armor that can amplify the strength of weaponized games! Heck, I dare to say that this is military-grade!"

"Military grade!? What kind of nonsense is that!? How do you even move around with something so...so..." There was a strange sensation the more she looked at it, the mixture of laughable and sheer adorableness. "So chubby!"

Ex-Aid face palmed. "Oh God, have your parents really taught you about not judging the book by its cover? Shouldn't YOU of all people know not to underestimate any opponent or ally in front of you!?"

With everything just going really awkward now, Ex-Aid had to admit the fact that his Level 1 armor WAS very disorienting. He knew that he could even use it as a temporary mascot suit when push comes to shove, especially when he was at a pop culture event. But to be scolded at by Selesia Yupitllia in the flesh because of such trivial matter... was enjoyable at the very least.

The military girl was clearly amused by such the sight, if her loud laughing and jeering was anything to go by.

"Ahahahaha! Oh, what an entertaining sight! I have to admit that I've never laughed this hard over something so trivial." The girl guffawed. "Although, I am not sure if I should expect more from a clown like you are, "Kamen Rider Ex-Aid"!"

"Well, look who's talking." Ex-Aid scoffed, turning his attention to her once again and picked his weapon up. He pointed it at her, too. "Then let's see if you can handle the harsh reality that this clown packs a wallop!"

He jumped towards the military girl who had been expecting him with her circling cutlasses.

What she wasn't expecting, however, was Ex-Aid managing to break through the cutlasses and almost landing a hit on her if it weren't for the girl blocking it with her picked sword. She then pushed him away and sent her swords to her, in which Ex-Aid responded by curling himself to deflect the incoming attack, which surprisingly worked seeing how sturdy the Rider's Level 1 armor was, causing her to widen her eyes. While backing from her, he pressed the 'B' button to turn his sword back into its hammer mode.

_**BA-KON!**_

He spun to her direction and threw his hammer exactly at her head, forcing the female warrior to shield it with her iron gauntlet. A 'HIT' balloon also appeared the moment the attack literally hit her. She then moved her arm away only to see Selesia already charging at her.

"Don't forget about me!" She roared, charging head first towards the white haired girl.

'Celesia's fighting now!?' Ex-Aid thought in geeky glee. Oh, he really should see this himself!

The two swordwomen then clashed in the air, their blades against each other and with a capability of flight. Selesia fought graciously in the air dodging the military girl's incoming cutlasses as if she was dancing it off while blocking them off at the same time. Even without the Vogelchevalier mech to assist her, she was clearing an exceptionally adept swordswoman and Ex-Aid knew this all too well. He was geeking himself all over again, and he couldn't help but blushing and smiling under his armor. he was grateful that he was gifted as an Otaku and a gamer.

On the other hand, the military girl couldn't be underestimated as well. She kept on retaliating by using cutlass after cutlass on both of her hands, not even hesitating to use her tommy gun and fired it at her enemy, though she much preferred on using her cutlasses than the rifle. The girl and Selesia kept on clashing to a higher altitude, causing people to notice them in the air as mistook them as drones. Then again, it was visible without an active stage select effect.

"Oh yeah, now that I think about it, I can't really back her up like this." Ex-Aid disgruntled as his thoughts quickly came back down to the earth. "And I really don't wanna resort to 'that' for now, so... let's see if this upgrade really works!"

The Rider went towards a yellow energy item nearby and bashed it to activate its boost effect.

_**SPEEDING-UP!**_

Feeling the effects spreading from head to toe, he then ran towards the direction the female warriors were at. From his HUD that was linked with his own neural systems, he summoned several chocolate cubes that acted as his stepping platforms, directed toward the fray. Affected by the Energy Item, Ex-Aid's movements became incredibly fast as he was able to move from one cube to another in a matter of seconds.

On the other side, the battle between the summoner and the summoned warrior still ensued. Both seemed to be evenly matched, showing how much prowess they respectively had. The two then engaged in a deadlock, with Selesia choosing right there to demand everything she needed to know.

"Who are you!? And what do you know of this world!?"

"What I am is none of your concern. And I told you already; this is the world of Gods, a hideous world in which dubious creators throng about. You will soon understand how they bloated their powers, abusing our world for their own amusement."

"Abusing our...world?"

"The reason of your suffering, your pain, and your rage...it all comes from them. This is the time we with hold our world's revolution by punishing the gods of Earth. That is my reason of wanting you to join me, so that we can purge them all and bring about true justice by our own hands!" the girl declared manically.

"Stop spouting your nonsense already!"

"Nonsense? Have you already forgotten how little you know of this world too, Selesia? Only I can guide you through this forsaken land. I have summoned my lambs solely for that reason. My powers are beyond your reach, and I will evolve no matter what you do to me as of now." The girl gloated, pressing forward physically. "Think this through, Your Highness: what chances do you have of standing against me?"

Slowly, Selesia began losing her grip. She was unsure of the sudden clarification, but she still had to fend her off regardless. Breaking the standstill, the enemy rained her with the cutlasses. She blocked them as best as she could, but she was also noticeably got hit a couple of times.

Noticing this, Ex-Aid sped up to reach her quickly. He attempted to reach the altitude where the female warriors were at, but his display showed that he had almost reached his limit. He then lined up the cubes as his running platform directed towards the girl and jumped out from it, successfully bashing her away after getting through her cutlass barrier. Selesia was snapped out of her uncertainty, quickly grabbing Ex-Aid's hand as he was unable to fly on his own.

"Selesia, you okay? What happened?" He asked, worry clear in his tone.

"I...it's fine. I'm just a bit distracted." Selesia answered. "But, how did you even get here? Is it with those chocolate blocks?"

"Oh that? They're actually crates made to store those coins around this area. It was all uninstalled after a battle, but I managed to find its software a few days ago and finished the work to make them as platforms. Turns out that it wasn't so hard to reinstall it that I finished it some hours ago. I didn't have time to test it, but it worked well so far."

"I see..."

Ex-Aid, however, could tell what really went on just by her face alone thanks to his interpersonal skills he built up as a doctor. Whatever that military girl might told her, it must be something that was too big for her alone to handle. Every people could've felt the same thing should they were suddenly teleported into another world without their consent. They had no prior knowledge of what was truly going on.

Speaking of which, Selesia was a protagonist of the Vogelchevalier anime. That alone raised a question on how an anime entity could appear on the real world. So far, only Genm Corp.'s video game creations made their way here through the Bugster Virus, so how could an anime character do the same? Moreover, who was that white-haired girl, really? So many questions at hand with so little time for explanations as they were already in the fray. For now, all he could do was relieve the red-haired warrior of her uncertainty.

"Selesia..." Ex-Aid prodded gently. "Whatever answers you're looking for, it's also my mission too. I can only say that there are, and might be some others like you, here. I can't really explain the full details right now, but I assure you, we're going to find those answers together. There might also be a reason why you were summoned here, and I believe that you're a deterrent of whoever's going to bring about a ruin to this world. So, that means we're in this together."

"Emu..."

"Well, what do you say, then? How about we turn things up the notch?"

Selesia stared, knowing that Ex-Aid was never a trivial figure like how the girl was. Somehow, she knew that the Rider was very trustworthy. She didn't see any lies from his eyes nor any dishonesty in his voice as he comforted her, only pure sincerity and altruism even towards a total stranger like her. Perhaps, this might had been built up from his times as a doctor...and a "Kamen Rider".

"You're right. I can't stay in confusion for long. As a royal warrior, my duty is to protect innocents. I might not know a lot of this world, but I can say for sure that none of us expected this. That's why..." the female warrior clenched her sword. "I'll fight to protect this world!"

"So, you've decided then? Very well, then I have no more reasons to hold back. Prepare yourselves, O brave warriors." The white-haired girl declared, getting all of her weapons ready.

"Still got anything under that suit?" Selesia asked rhetorically, her eyes nervously looking at everyone of the various cutlasses aiming at her and Ex-Aid.

"Exactly what I thought about." Ex-Aid then made a pose of which he stretched his right hand to the left, with his other hand on the top of his Gamer Driver. He chanted the word as he opened the belt's mid-section cover from its handle.

"Dai Henshin!"

_**GACCHAN! LEVEL UP!**_

_**MIGHTY JUMP! MIGHTY KICK! MIGHTY MIGHTY ACTION X!**_

As the Gashat-like gate went through the Rider, Ex-Aid's bulky armor exploded away its parts into pieces and soon vanished into pixels, leaving only its faceplate intact along with his inner body that was covered by pink pixels. The faceplate circled to his back and turned its emotive eyes off. The pixels soon dissipated, revealing a more humanoid full-body armor from the bottom to the top.

Much like the faceplate, Ex-Aid's helmet also had a pink spiky hair and a pair of googles. his armor looked like a pink short-sleeved jumpsuit composed of lime accents and light iron platings, resembled an old-school 90's color trend. There was also an asymmetrical circuitry lines that went from the abdomen to the thighs. His chestplate had a game pad with its buttons consisted of red, blue, green, and yellow. It also had a digital screen that soon displayed his health bar and weapon selections. He also had a pair of pink shoulder guards over his short sleeves. The short sleeves were also connected to a pair of black gauntlets and knee pads respectively, all noticeably took a form of synthetic muscles. Of being looked closely, some of the armor's joints were covered with thick fiber clothing. His armor soon activated once the googles opened its yellow emotive eyes.

"Now then, let's clear this game with no continues!" Ex-Aid declared as he completed his Level 2 transformation.

"He...he can change his form too?" Selesia looked upon in wonder. "At the very least, he's not clunky anymore."

The girl in the military uniform smirked, simply amused by the sight and proceeded to attack her enemies, in which the latter noticed as much. Selesia dodged away the attack and rushed under the fray, while Ex-Aid stepped on the swords and jumped from one to the other with his HUD showing him the swords' trajectory. In his Level 2 form, his movements became much more nimble as he was based on action-platformer games, with him being able to perform acrobatic movements to navigate through the battlefield as shown in the aforementioned action despite not gaining the ability to fly. this was proven effective as he was able to reach the girl and swung his hammer right to her face. The military girl, however, was able to barely dodged it as she was also an adept combatant herself. Ex-Aid predicted this, and that's why...

_**JA-KIIN!**_

He switched his weapon into blade mode for a longer hit range. The girl dodged it to the right again, ignoring the scar it caused to her left cheek that bleed blue pixel particles. She went under him only to find Selesia striking her with her sword. She was pushed back by the sheer force the warrior princess had despite being able to shield it with her sword. Ex-Aid then summoned another array of chocolate blocks as his platform once his attack succeeded, circling towards the clashing warriors to gain more momentum. He also noticed how Selesia's confidence had fully returned, with her displaying her prowess in airborne swordsmanship. With his Gashacon Breaker, he double-teamed the military girl with the warrior princess.

Selesia was still amazed by how adept Ex-Aid was as a combatant. She noticed him using the platforms as his means of fighting the girl in mid-air. They continued their assault at her, clashing their weapons against hers. She retorted to use her tommy gun and fired at Selesia. Ex-Aid quickly got in the way and blocked it with his back. As mentioned before, he was wearing an armor, which means that her gun barrage didn't faze him at all. Selesia smiled in relief, returned with the Rider's visor wink.

The military girl then summoned more cutlasses and rained it on both him and her. In a rush, the Rider quickly mashed the weapon's 'B' button a couple of times as the cutlasses got more closer. The attack was retaliated by Ex-Aid's swing that became powerful enough to swipe the swords away in a strong gush of wind, surprising both Selesia and the girl in the military uniform. However, he didn't wait long to unleash his more powerful attack as he rushed towards the girl, in the most Kamen Rider style possible, grabbing two red energy items along the way to power his attack up.

_**MUSCULAR! MUSCULAR!**_

_**GASSHUN!**_

The pink Rider took his personal Gashat out and inserted it to the Kimewaza slot, pressing its silver button to activate another command. He waited for a few moments to gather more cartoonish lighting energy at his boots before pressing the button once again.

_**GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!**_

_**MIGHTY CRITICAL FINISH!**_

Ex-Aid charged towards the weakened military girl with cartoonish lightnings blazing on every step he took on top of the platforms. He jumped it out once he was close enough and delivered a barrage of kicks, along with some powerful bicycle kicks that sent the white haired girl crashing into the ground.

And of course, he wasn't done yet.

"Selesia!"

He called out to his airborne ally, in which she quickly realized at what he was trying to do just by looking his hand reaching to her. She spun him in mid-air a couple of times before throwing him at their enemy. Stretching his feet to her, he executed one more powerful Rider Kick in hopes of neutralizing the threat once and for all. The impact caused a huge explosion that had almost damaged its surroundings and cratered the ground.

However...

Ex-Aid found his finisher being blocked by dozens of cutlasses, aligned to form a circular shield. He also noticed that his attack was already strong enough to penetrate its outer layer, signed by broken and half-cracked cutlasses nearby his right foot.

"What!?"

Noticing her ominous smirk as she performed the violin gesture, Selesia quickly rushed to the Rider. "Look out!"

As the girl scratched her cutlass, the swords burst out lethally in front of the Rider to the point that it could damage the area. Selesia quickly swept him away in time and flew to a nearby tree. Some of the cutlasses noticeably injured the warrior princess in several areas, though it wasn't lethal. The burst also knocked them to a nearby tree.

"Selesia!"

"I'm okay... just a bit scratched, that's all." She grunted, holding to her injured arm.

"Scratched?" Ex-Aid was disgruntled. "Selesia, you don't have an armor like I do! That could've been much deadlier to you!"

"And risk yourself getting all stabby-stabbed? No can do. After all, it's in my blood to always protect an ally." She nonchalantly smiled through the pain.

"Oh, you... okay, just... I'll be more aware of my surroundings next time, okay?"

"Emu..." Selesia was a bit taken back by how humble the Rider was, not blaming her for getting herself hurt, at all.

Suddenly, a rocket missile was launched at the girl in the military uniform, in which she quickly blocked it with her cutlass. It exploded almost nearby to her. She checked on the area to see another person entering the fray. It was what seemed to be another, albeit, with much short hair, white-haired girl wearing an RPG mage garment. She was seen holding a book with a bunch of RPG launchers summoned with several magic gates on her back.

"Oh? Is that you, Meteora? You still haven't found your creator, yet?"

"Creator, huh? Just as I thought...there could be more." Ex-Aid muttered.

The now-named Meteora fired her weapons at the girl again, only to be blocked by the cutlasses again. This confused Celesia, knowing that such thing was futile if she attempted to strike her down. But Ex-Aid knew better. This might be told merely as a sign of aggression, meaning that this Meteora also didn't agree on the girl's terms.

Apparently, the military uniformed girl agreed, chuckling sinisterly as blue pixels begun to come out of her body.

"Well, it's fine then. We still lack more strength and manpower. A riot is precisely what I wished for, but the symphony wouldn't sound harmonious without the correct headcount. After all, a glorious song requires all players present in the field. I shall pay you all a visit later, O brave warriors. On behalf of this foul world, I welcome thee with all my heart."

"So, you're still not telling what your name is? How about we call you Bugsterina, huh?" Ex-Aid bluffed.

The white haired girl simply chuckled once again. "You are EXACTLY what my master described to me. I will tell you in time, _Ex-Aid_, for I do not want to spoil the surprise. That is...unless you managed to find out about me first."

And thus, the military girl completely disappeared into a blue haze, leaving nothing behind.

With the battle finally over, the three remaining warriors descended to the ground. Selesia was the most exhausted of them all, to the point that she almost collapsed to the ground if not for Ex-Aid quickly held her up.

"Damn that girl! If only I have Vogelchevalier with me...!" she cursed under her breath.

"Save your breath, okay? Look, we still don't know what else she's capable of. So at the very least, all we can do now is live today and fight tomorrow. I'm sure we'll be able to solve this problem, together."

She sighed. "You're right. we should be grateful that we're still able to breath until this moment."

"Anyway, thanks for the big help. Meteora, right?" Ex-Aid thanked while calmly on the the outside.

On the inside, however, was a completely different story.

_'OhmygoditsMeteoraandshehasherspellbookandshotmisslesandiscuteand-'_

As Genius Gamer M was nerding the hell out in this headspace, Emu was neurally commanding his helmet to deform into pixels itself, revealing Emu's own head. "My name's Emu Hojo, but as you may have heard, I'm Kamen Rider Ex-Aid in this armor." He then gestures to his more tired and wary companion, "This is Selesia Yupitilia from the Vogelchevalier anime."

"A pleasure to meet you both." Meteora responds politely as walking closer to the two, her voice as calm and monotone as Emu remembers it from her game, "It appears that I'm not the only one summoned to this world. For that alone, I am grateful... and filled with lots of questions that needs to be answered, right away." She spoke in a surprisingly petite voice, and a very polite one.

"So, you haven't met your Creator, right? Does that mean you didn't know which...medium you're from?" Selesia asked.

"Sadly, no." Meteora shook her head. "I was summoned here just tonight, so I didn't have enough time to search for further clues, here."

"I see...then, how about if you join us? I'm sure we can work this out together!"

"Hmm, she's right, though. I say we round up the, uhh...otherworlders with us and see if we can do something to solve this problem. I'm sure there must be a lot like you guys out there, so why not lend a helping hand? Perhaps if we find your Creators, we can find more clues about what's really happening, here. I also know some people that might be able to help us with this too." Emu offered.

"After all, beggars can't be choosers. We'll take whatever you serve us with." Meteora affirmed.

"Alright, it's settled then!"

Suddenly, the group heard a loud explosion occurring somewhere nearby the park. Emu also heard a beep from his collar, which then he put his helmet back on and searched from its displays. He found out a familiar life sign readings that he soon recognized as a threat.

"This is...! There's no mistaking it. It's Salty!"

"Salty?" Meteora and Selesia asked in union.

"One of the monsters that threaten the Earth. Looks like he's still in for some business." Ex-Aid briefly explained.

"Monsters!?" Selesia gasped.

"Yeah, like I said: if it hadn't been for Bugsterina, I could further elaborate my story." Ex-Aid reclarified.

"Anyway, we should all hurry to the location and see if we can rescue the civilians." Meteora said. "And I also want to see what kind of threat this world has."

* * *

The explosion took a place nearby the city's plaza. Dozens of civilians running away from what appeared to be the monster, the Salty Bugster. The monster had an appearance of a blue, bulky armored figure. His notable features were his white hat, black cape, and an snail-like left hand knuckle. He was seen destroying numerous public properties and beating up several civilians. He was accompanied by several chef figures with monstrous orange heads. He then closed in on a female civilian nearby.

_**"Ahh, you must be one of the Ride Players! Come now, play the game and claim your prize!"**_ he persuaded.

"N-no way!"

_**"Eeeh, what's wrong? Too scared to fight!? And I thought you had the guts to compete for your life!"**_ Salty taunted.

"I won't waste the life that I have! Besides, it's not even my job to beat a monster like you!"

_**"Then who do you think it is!?"**_

"It's my job!"

Ex-Aid delivered a normal Rider Kick to Salty and sent him away from the civilian. Selesia went on to guard her as Meteora attended to her.

"Can you still move?" Meteora asked.

"I'm fine, thanks."

"You did a good job holding on to yourself, there. Now you better go get to safety." Ex-Aid said, replied with the woman's nod as she ran away from the battlefield.

"Ex-Aid... just what are those things?" Selesia asked, looking wide eyed at the many _things _scouring the place like some kind of plague.

"They're Bugsters, a malevolent breed of virus that threatened our world."

_**"Ooh! There you are, Kamen Rider Ex-Aid!"**_ Salty greeted, arms wide. _**"And those are fine ladies you have there!"**_

"Salty! What do you think you're doing here!?"

_**"Just some clean up duty that the bosses ordered me to."**_

"Clean up?"

_**"You see here, Kamen Rider Chronicle sales has constantly been dropping after that statement from CR. I'm just here to keep the game going! Those humans have started this game in the first place, so they better get their straps back on whether they like it or not! This is what a never-ending game should be, Ex-Aid! And there's nothing more you can do to stop us!"**_

"A never-ending game? Ex-Aid, what's he talking about?" Selesia asked.

Ex-Aid remorsefully answered, "This... is what happened to my world, guys. A a real life battle royal game called Kamen Rider Chronicle was commenced a month ago. It's a game where the civilians become Riders in a massive death match, fighting against each other in order to grant their own wishes once they're victorious. What's worse is that whenever a player loses...they lost their own lives."

"What!?" Selesia widened her eyes in horror.

"Losing...your own life in a game?" Meteora repeated lowly, also shock.

_**"That's right! After all Ex-Aid, you of all people should know better that you're also an NPC in Rider Chronicle! That's why I'll keep coming back, because you could never kill me as an NPC! Hahahahaha!"**_

The warrior princess was visibly angry at his remarks. "You...how dare you endanger innocents!"

_**"Hahahah! What's wrong? Too **__**salty**__** for you!?"**_

"Selesia... I think you and Meteora should stand by." Ex-Aid held her shoulder.

"What are you talking about!?"

"I can see your vital status from my helmet. You're not in condition for another long fight."

"But-!"

"Listen. I have a feeling that he's gonna come up with something real bad if you push yourself too hard. Besides, part of it is my fault, too. I should be the one who's taking him on. Also, I want you to still be able to hold on if the minions come after you." The Rider instructed.

"I...okay. I understand."

"Meteora, keep yourself close to her and disable any incoming Bugsters with extreme prejudice."

"Understood." Meteora accepted.

"Good. Now then, listen up!" the Rider set his sights back on Salty. "No matter how many times you come back, no matter how many times you endanger civilians, I'll keep on stopping you! So, let's have this fight once again, Salty. Mano-a-mano."

As Ex-Aid went on his stance, the Bugster general replied._**"Oh, but this mano has something for you! Bugsters, unite!"**_

The Bugster minions all gathered into two groups, each of them melted into orange puddles that soon formed two huge creatures. They looked like twisted gorillas with a pair of menacing orange eyes, with some of their bodies being covered with blue armor plattings much like the Bugster himself. their arms were also shaped in the likeness of Salty's left gauntlet.

"A Bugster Union!?"

_**"All-new and updated! Rider Chronicle also strengthened our Bugster-making capabilities and my saltiness! Hell, we don't even need hosts just to make these unions. I even start to become very pessimistic on how you're gonna hold on to yourself!" **_Salty remarked.

"So that's how we're gonna do things, huh? Fine, then. I'm not really in the mood to drag this any longer, so..." Ex-Aid took out a new, bulky orange-cobalt Gashat with the size of two Gashat slots and pressed its button.

_**MIGHTY BROTHERS XX!**_

"Let's even the math, shall we?"

_**DOUBLE GASHAT!**_

_**GACHAN! LEVEL UP!**_

_**MIGHTY BROTHERS! FUTARI DE HITORI! MIGHTY BROTHERS! FUTARI DE VICTORY! X!**_

Ex-Aid chose another thumbnail that soon went through him, engulfing him in orange and cobalt pixel haze. The thumbnail also changed into a big faceplate similar to his Level 1 form, only that it had a differently-styled spiky hair ornament with orange on the right and cobalt on the left. The faceplate was first appeared to be split apart in half before combining to each other and later to the pixel haze. The haze dissipated and revealed him to be in another bulky 'clown-suit' armor with a different chest plate. It had orange, yellow, and blue key pads instead of the original buttons and had more amounts of health bar. Ex-Aid then completed his Level X transformation as he opened his bichromatic digital eyes with respective colorings.

"Ueeeehhh? Another clown-suit?" Selesia flabbergasted, causing a deadpan from the Rider himself.

"UPGRADED clown-suit, thank you very much."

"A warrior with an ability to change forms. How interesting." Meteora observed. "Then again...it's very kid-friendly."

"That's the purpose of this armor's creative idea, I believe." Ex-Aid replied. "Now then, let's see if I could still stretch up with Level X."

_**"Hmph! I thought you said you want to even the numbers, but fine then! Bugsters, attack!"**_

The battle began with the minions charging at Ex-Aid first. All of them brought lancers and thrusted the Rider with it, only for him to jump it out and delivered a ground pound that shattered the lancers and pinned the unlucky Bugsters to the ground and destroyed them. he continued his assault by jumping and stomping the rest of them much like in the manner of action-platform games. He also didn't hesitate to use his own body to slam the enemies as his weight was enough to smash their heads into orange haze. After making his way through the horde, he set his sights on Salty Bugster. On his attempt, the Bugster Union stood in his way.

And this is how Ex-Aid rolled up his ace.

_**"Do you really think you can just charge up at me?"**_

"Do YOU really think I'm that stupid?" Ex-Aid remarked as he closed the Driver's cover and rolled both of his arms in the air. At the same time, the giants were about to hit the Rider with their fists. "Daaaaiiiii~ Henshin!"

_**GACHAN! DOUBLE UP!**_

_**ORE GA OMAE DE! OMAE GA ORE DE! (WE ARE!) MIGHTY MIGHTY BROTHERS! (HEY!) XX!**_

The moment the fists were about to hit him, a Gashat gate went through him and his Level X Armor exploded to pieces and released two pixel haze that split apart from one another. As usual, the orange was on the right, and the cobalt was on the left. The faceplate parts were also relocated as the two haze began forming new armors of their own and delivered Rider Kicks to the Unions to drive them away. The haze landed and revealed what completely became the most shocking and bizzarre view even to the Creations.

Ex-Aid was literally split apart into two individuals. Both of their armors had a complimenting color mixture of orange and cobalt that went to their jumpsuit parts and accents. The right orange one had the faceplate half on his right shoulder and the left cobalt side of his hair part was seemingly combed back as opposed to his right orange one. the left cobalt one was simply a palette swap of the former, with the faceplate half on his left shoulder and the right orange side of his hair was the one that was combed back.

"We'll clear this game with no continues!" The two Ex-Aids declared in perfect sync as the Double Action Gamer Level XX was completed.

"Eeeehh!? W-wait a minute, whaaaat!?"

"If this isn't the most bizarre thing I've ever seen in my life, then I don't know what else it is." Meteora commented with wide eyes while Selesia had her mouth open agape.

"Right!? I mean, like... how's this even possible!? What about his sense of self, or...or whatever his mind has just become into?"

"I believe we should leave Emu himself for the explanation."

_**GASHACON BREAKER!**_

_**GASHACON KEY SLASHER!**_

As Ex-Aid L summoned the main weapon, Ex-Aid R summoned a new weapon, taking the form of a sword with a tilted handle in the likeness of a gun. In truth, it was also a combo weapon like how Gashacon Breaker was. It had a solid blue streak on the sword portion, yellow on the barrel, and orange on the lower portion. It also had the same key pads like Level XX's. The two warriors began charging at the Unions. They ran towards the giants' grounded arms and knowing how strong they were, Ex-Aid L pressed the 'B' button three times and Ex-Aid R pressed all of the four orange key pads.

_**ZU-ZU-ZU-PAAN!**_

The two Ex-Aids slashed their heads with their weapons. Ex-Aid L's Breaker sword delivered a single slash that caused several 'HIT!'s at the enemy and Ex-Aid R's Key Slasher emitted a huge orange light that turned into a giant axe, grazing the enemy's head. while the giants' movements were still disoriented due to the attacks, they swung their weapons towards Salty from above. Due to the Bugster's Level X factor, he was still able to block the attack with his own bare hands while the weapons' effects were still active. The warriors broke away from their deadlock and start clashing against each other.

Salty started by dealing with the cobalt Ex-Aid L first. The sword that was swung to him had little to no effect once the Bugster blocked it with his back arm. He relied more on bare-hand fight with his right arm and waited for the right moment to strike the Rider with his electric left gauntlet. After he got numerous 'HIT!'s, he already had the momentum and struck the Rider with his gauntlet. The amount of the stockpiled energy was enough to stun the Rider, sending off sparks to his armor and kicked him away. However, before he fell to the ground, Ex-Aid L switched his weapon mode and threw it at the enemy after he pressed its 'B' button.

_**BA-KOON!**_

The weapon hit exactly the same spot of Salty's right arm. However, the temporary power-up effect caused the 'HIT!' to be more powerful to the point that it almost paralyzed the Bugster's arm. Thanks to the same Level XX factor- which was actually X for each- Ex-Aid L quickly got up to his feet after he recalled the weapon to his hand and he picked up a yellow Energy Item nearby, depicting a taunting Rider.

_**INSTIGATE!**_

"That's right! over here~!"

Ex-Aid L shouted at the giants who had just recovered. The effect caused them to be drawn towards him, effectively drawing them away from his 'brother' who was currently engaging the Bugster general. He pressed the weapon's blue key pads, causing a new command to activate.

"Hey, eyes on me you obese gorilla!"

_**"Gorilla!? I'm a superiorly evolved snail!"**_

_**JA-JA-JA-KIIN!**_

The orange light axe was then replaced by a blue light sword. he swung it at the Bugster who blocked it with his left side cape and attempted to strike him with his electric gauntlet. The Rider narrowly dodged it and delivered a spinning slash to the monster's abdomen. Salty also dodged it and the two clashed their weapons once again, making the fight seemed to be evenly matched with both of them trading hits against one another.

"Heheh, whaddup? Too fast for ya'!?" Ex-Aid R taunted.

On the other side, Ex-Aid L took out a lime Gashat depicted with a sport biker and activated it. he also put it on his Kimewaza slot.

"Alright, this should do it."

_**SHAKARIKI SPORTS!**_

_**GASHATTO!**_

A Gashat gate appeared right beside the Rider and summoned what appeared to be a mountain bike. It had fuschia and lime colors that also complimented Ex-Aid's regular armor. he quickly jumped on to the bike and circled around the Bugster Union as fast as he could while looking for a weak spot in hopes of informing it when he switched targets with his orange 'brother', a vital role that he'd always do.

"The joints seem to be weaker than it looked, huh? Well then-!"

However, his focus was suddenly shifted towards the Bugster minions that had already assaulted Selesia and Meteora. The two of them had already fought well after the time the Ex-Aids bought for them to recover. Selesia used her mid-air sword combat as usual, enabling her to swiftly dodge enemy attacks, while Meteora used her magic gate to summon several combat rifles and fired them all at the Bugsters, to which they had no power against. Despite the retaliation, the overwhelming amount of the Bugster horde had could always tire any warrior out should it kept on going any longer. Not only that, Selesia who was also close to exhaustion could collapse at anytime, and Meteora couldn't keep her focus even if her weapons seemed to be very effective to reduce the horde's numbers.

This was why Ex-Aid L was placed in the role of defender and tactitian as opposed to Ex-Aid R's assault and strike specialist. He could still think of such possibility with him having to avoid the giants' attacks that were directed at him. Surprisingly, the Bugster Unions' fists were also empowered with electricity. All the more reason he had to rely on his Sports Gamer bike to absorb the electricity using the tires' rubber fabric.

One of the Bugster Unions was about to land a hit on him, and he quickly backflipped right when the fist hit the bike's tire. It sent him inches away and he quickly spun to adjust his landing position, to which he landed with both tires backing him up, preventing him from falling to the back. Once he regained his composure, he also saw his 'brother' having some difficulties in facing Salty Bugster. The latter slowly gained the upper hand as he became more acquinted with Ex-Aid R's rather brash fighting style.

"Hey bro, got any ideas? Salty's just getting much stronger and- I dunno -smarter?" Ex-Aid R asked. He was also noticeably exhausted.

"There's something that I wanna try. Get the Robots Gamer ready." Ex-Aid L answered as he relayed the details to his 'brother's display. It was said that they had to use the Level 3 armors with their own Level XX base armors.

"You sure about this? I gotta admit that this is just so excessive."

"I believe that by doing this, we could still maintain the upper hand and hopefully, turning on the tables. This could work, bro. Trust me."

"Heh, like you have to ask. Copy that. Initiating Level... uhh, 26?"

"Yep. 2 Level X Riders equipped with 2 Level 3 armors equals Level 26. I'm sure the math will do just fine." Ex-Aid L then took his Gashat out and pressed its button once again, with Ex-Aid R doing the same with his red Gashat.

_**SHAKARIKI SPORTS!**_

_**GEKITOTSU ROBOTS!**_

_**GASHATTO!**_

Two new game screens depicting the Gashats appeared behind the respective Riders. The former changed the bike into a more bulkier version of it and the latter summoned what appeared to be a red robot sentry. The support sentries attacked the respective enemies before attaching themselves to the Riders, granting them new set of outer layer armors and as always, status increases. While the armors were attached , the faceplate halves disappeared into a haze for the armors' convenience. They also gave the Riders new headgears as their streaks were 'combed' back to the spike hairs.

Ex-Aid L's Sports Gamer armor was visually quite simplistic. It had an outer pink chestplate that covered his inner one and a lime headgear that resembled a biker's helmet. The most notable features of this armor were its shoulder guards, which were the Sports Gamer's wheels. The wheels' inner frames were also covered by metal platings. Both also had silver handles on both sides and they were adjusted to give off an impression that they were shoulder gyros. The left lime wheel was the front one, and the right pink wheel was obviously its rear.

Compared to that, however, Ex-Aid R had a rather bulky Robots Gamer armor. the way it attached to the Rider was a quite bizzarre one that it looked like that the robot chomped his body. Ex-Aid's red chestplate was the inverted side of the Robot Gamer sentry, with his shoulder guards being its feet and its head went to Ex-Aid's back. He also had a red headgear with a yellow 'V' horn on the top. The armor's most notable feature was its left hand knuckle gauntlet made of the sentry's arms. It had three robotic fingers and pistons on the gauntlet's mid-section, further emphasizing that this armor was made for pure brute strength.

"Hell yeah! This rocks!" Ex-Aid R grinned.

"I know right?" Ex-Aid L replied. "Now, let's go even the odds in this evening!"

_**"Oh no, what a Salty Pun! And your excessiveness is so Salty!"**_ the Bugster was clearly agitated.

"That's one helluva pun ya' got there, bro!" Ex-Aid R remarked as he swung his gauntlet arm to Salty. "And here's my one helluva punch! Hyaaah!"

"Well, look who's talking."

As his 'brother' did his sortie, Ex-Aid R kept on using his robot gauntlet to clash against Salty's electric gauntlet. Sparks were sent out of it, but it looked more like Salty's being repelled by the force. They kept on hitting each other, trading blows and clashing their gauntlets, but Ex-Aid R gained the upper hand this time. he was unaffected by the electrocution no matter how powerful Salty released it. the Bugster then finally resorted to the unexpected, or so it seems. The moment they went head-to-head, he generated an electric spark from his right hand and aimed it towards the Rider's head. It hit him, but he quickly shrugged it off thanks to the headgear. He then gave a heavy blow to the Bugster general's chest and several shots from the Rider's Key Slasher gun config.

_**ZU-ZU-ZU-KYUUN!**_

_**"Ugh, so this is how you're doing it, huh? Bringing a gun to a fist fight?"**_ Salty scoffed.

"Oh, I'm not gonna let myself bein' cheated alone! And who said that it's always a fist fight? After all, I knew for a moment that you're going to shoot me with your spark in my face!" Ex-Aid R countered. "You don't have any honor, Salty! Let alone have one!"

_**"Hehahah! Yeah, that's right! who said anything about honor!? After all, all that I care about is to get rid of you!"**_

"Hmph! Like that's gonna shock me." Ex-Aid R calmly scoffed. The two then continued their fight by also firing their respective long-range weapons. it all soon turned into an all-out brawl in an instant.

On the other side of the fray, Ex-Aid L detached the right tire and threw it to the Bugster Unions. Despite the attack's strength wasn't enough to break their bodies apart, he kept on throwing the chakram wheel at them in order to exhaust them. with the help of Sports Gamer armor, his dexterity increased to the point where he did various jumps, hops, slides, and flips to avoid their attacks. He could see the attack patterns clearly and memorize it, enabling him to hit their blind spots and ruin their composure. Not forgetting his other priority, he climbed one of the giants' arm and threw his chakram at their heads first before jumping down and threw his chakram once again at the horde that was about to attack Selesia and Meteora. He quickly came to their aid, shielding them from the attacks with the armor's right wheel shield and bashed the enemies away.

He also used his still-intact Gashacon Breaker sword as his chakram flew through the enemies after he threw it. this technique effectively reduced the Bugsters' numbers and with the final wave circled them, he picked up his lime Gashat, put it on the weapon's slot and pressed its trigger for the finisher.

_**GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!**_

_**SHAKARIKI CRITICAL FINISH!**_

Ex-Aid L threw his empowered chakram wheel in the air. It spun round by itself and sliced its way through the circling Bugsters and with his empowered weapon and boots, the Rider sled around the monsters and sliced them all with a deadly combo of his arsenals. He stopped right in front of the Creations as the Bugsters exploded, with the wheel chakram soon returned right to where it belonged.

"You guys alright?"

"Yeah. Thanks to you." Celesia smiled from her exhaustion.

"Then all that is left are those three, I believe." Meteora said.

"Yep. Okay, gotta roll again." Ex-Aid L then called out to his 'brother'. "Hey bro, let's switch targets!"

"Got it! but first..."

_**ZU-ZU-ZU-PAAN!**_

The two warriors went towards each other and traded a high-five as they switched targets. Ex-Aid R went towards the giants and launched his robot gauntlet to one of them. the arm kept flying around the Union te kept it busy. he then engaged the other using his Key Slasher, set on its axe mode. He delivered a heavy slash and gave a deep cut to the Bugster Union's arm. As he giant lifted its injured arm, Ex-Aid R quickly dove under the giant and slashed one of its feet, causing it to roar in pain. He then attempted to slice its left foot, only for it to be a deep cut. However, it was enough to bring the monster down, enabling Ex-Aid R to execute his finisher by inserting his Mighty Brothers Gashat to the Key Slasher's slot.

_**GASHUN!**_

_**DOUBLE GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!**_

_**MIGHTY DOUBLE CRITICAL FINISH!**_

The Rider ran towards the Bugster Union and delivered an empowered energy axe slash that sliced the monster in half, resulting in a huge explosion. He then turned his attention towards the other giant that had its head got hit hard by the Robot gauntlet that had almost trip it down. The monster couldn't catch up the gauntlet's speed and had its body constantly being hit by the gauntlet.

_**ZU-ZU-ZU-KYUUN!**_

He shot a barrage blast at the Union's head that temporarily immobilized it. another finisher was then set up by Ex-Aid R putting the Gekitotsu Robots Gashat at the weapon's slot.

_**GASHUN!**_

_**GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!**_

_**ROBOTS CRITICAL FINISH!**_

The empowered gauntlet that floated in front of the weapon was fired towards the monster's head and caved it through. and like the other one, it exploded into an orange haze.

Ex-Aid L engaged Salty Bugster with his Breaker sword. pressing the 'B' button for a couple of times, he increased the weapon's damage to get through Salty's electric gauntlet. Dozens of 'HIT!'s sent sparks flying from the enemy. However, Salty managed to got ahold of Ex-Aid L's arm and punched him on the head with his gauntlet. He electrocuted the Rider to prevent him from moving around, in which he quickly took the armor's right wheel to block the attack. While doing so, he scanned the area to look for any Energy Items he could use. Once he was done, he broke out from the deadlock and went towards a red-violet medal. While grabbing it, he shrunk the item through his HUD's command and waited for the right time to use it. he also went towards another pale red Energy Item while avoiding Salty's lightning strikes.

"Alright. Now!"

_**STRETCH!**_

Ex-Aid L launched his stretched-up sword hand towards Salty. The latter had a trouble catching up to the swing's speed, having himself being constantly hit by the Gashacon Breaker all over again. However, he quickly caught the flailing arm and attempeted to electrocute him through it, only for it to backfire due to Ex-Aid's first item.

_**"Haha! Do you really think you can beat me just with stretch!?"**_

"Think again."

_**"Huh?"**_

_**REFLECT!**_

The Energy Item returned the shock twice than normal, sending lots of sparks from the Bugster's buddy and effectively weakened him. He was immediately sent down to his knees as the shock greatly affected his body thanks to the combined effects of the item's damaging effect and his own electrocution.

"Bro, you ready?"

"Heh, like ya' hafta' ask. Let's wrap it up!" Ex-Aid R remarked as the two closed the Driver's cover before opening it again and activated the Kimewaza Slot.

_**GASHUN! KIMEWAZA**_

_**DOUBLE MIGHTY/SHAKARIKI/GEKITOTSU**_

_**CRITICAL STRIKE!**_

The Riders were engulfed in a cartoonish energy burst along with their respective auxillary weapons. both of them gave a barrage of punches and kicks to the monster, giving him no room to counter at all. Ex-Aid L then took the lead by continously throwing his wheel chakram in a boomerang manner. He did the final throw by jumping and flipping to add more force. He ended his turn by offering the armor's wheel shield for Ex-Aid R to jump on. The latter punched the monster and launched the Robot gauntlet as soon as he hit Salty's chest, letting out a cartoonish lightning burst. He then ran towards the enemy and sled his left arm back into the gauntlet to further damage him. Lastly, the two Ex-Aids delivered a barrage of energized Rider Kicks. A huge explosion occured with a 'PERFECT!' text balloon popping up.

_**"You... you'll pay for this! AAAAARGH!"**_

_**KAISHIN NO IPPATSU!**_

_**GASHUN!**_

The battle was finally over. The two Ex-Aids powered down by taking out their Gashats, causing them to merge into Emu Hojo once again. He then checked the two Creations. It had been an eventful night for the intern himself. he never thought that he would gain unlikely allies as the new crisis arose. After all, it was always fun to see how awed his new friends were at his actions.

"Anyone hurt?"

Selesia shook her head and responded with, "Emu Hojo... you got some serious explaining to do."

* * *

After a rather lengthy explanation, Emu and the Creations decided to part ways for a while. They said that they wanted to have a look around on this world. They had to admit that their lack of knowledge was already a good enough reason for them to do so. Planet Earth sure did contain many things even beyond their reach. They wish to know more despite the exhaustion that Emu was concerned about. Moreover, they didn't have any shelter to rest on. When asked about this, Selesia simply told him not to worry to much. They still had their own ways to cope up with everything.

The night had passed and the sun replaced the moon. Another day had arrived. Thankfully, Emu got a short-time schedule that enabled him to go home much earlier than yesterday. No Bugsters were also sighted at the time, so he could still have some breather. He also stopped by a market to buy some of his needs. After all, a Rider can't fight with an empty stomach.

However...

The moment he arrived at his bedroom, he saw Selesia and Meteora expecting him there. They sat on the floor with a completely broken window behind him. And that was how Emu being struck by an unimaginable horror.

"My... MY WINDOW!"

"E-eeeh?" Selesia was dumbfounded and clueless.

"Why? WHY, OH WHY MY LIFE HAS BEEN LIKE THIS!? OH, WHYYYY!?" Emu lumped to the floor as the surroundings darkened and a spotlight was pointing at his sorrowful state.

"So... that is not an entrance, then?" Meteora nonchalantly asked.

"Of course it's not a FRICKIN' entrance!" Emu retorted and pointed at them. "Have YOU ever learned what a window IS!? First, you stabbed my window, and now THIS! Can you imagine how mosquitos are gonna suck my blood dry? What else's gonna protect me from those demented bloodsuckers and the cold breeze of a lonely night time!? WHAT ELSE!?"

"W-well... first of all, windows aren't covered with that glass thingy! And second, anything that gives way to a room is considered an entrance! So how's this any different?" Selesia tried to defend herself.

"If anything blocks our path, we might as well get it out of the way." Meteora added.

"Hehehe, see now?" Selesia's remarks however was responded by the young intern's glare that went beyond the horrors of Genm Corp.'s games, Drago Knight Hunter Z and Dangerous Zombie.

"Now listen here, you two: this is MY world, and as much as I want to condone you both as outworlders, there are strict rules that must be obeyed in order for you two to live here, so from now on, you two are gonna have to obey every rule that I'll say! The last thing we ever wanted is to cause any unwanted commotion ourselves! IS THAT CLEAR!?"

"Y-yes sir, I understand!"

"Yes, sir."

And with that, Emu's days would never be the same.

"Oh God, help me..." he murmured with tears flowing down from his eyes.

* * *

**(A/N)**

**Hey, y'all! And welcome to this new fanfic, Blood on The Hands of The Healer!**

**It's been a while since I posted stories, seeing how college stuffs and exams can always be overwhelming *Phew!*. not only that, my favorite shows and games are also having a blast, and I can help but brimming with ideas! However, I still have my life to handle, and I pray that I can have further assist in maintaining my daily schedules.**

**Anyway, this is my first collab fic with another author, BigHead98. He requested to me about this crossover fic and I found the reasoning for it interesting, actually. The idea of this fanfic was that both Ex-Aid and Re:Creators had some themes and ideas that could run well with each other. the idea of anime and game characters coming to life is actually interesting for us to use. Both shows also ran at the same time. not only that, I also figured that maybe I could extent some of Ex-Aid's forms and weapons in this fanfic, like the use of Proto-Gashats, forms and whatsoever. Having Emu replacing Souta's position is also a part of BigHead's creative idea.**

**A new adversary came in the form of the Military Girl- or rather the Bugsterina -has arisen. With the help of new allies, Ex-Aid must solve the crises altogether. Will he be able to solve it all? What kind of challenges that awaits our genius gamer? **

**As always, please leave your comments below and remember, BE CONSTRUCTIVE.**

**Until next time.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Knights of Earth

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kamen Rider and Re:Creators as they both belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

"Hiiro! Hiiro!"

The loud chant had occupied the loud knocking noises, caused by none other than Emu Hojo aka the Intern as dubbed by Hiiro Kagami.

Said "Super Surgeon Who Never Fails" was currently nursing the early morning migraine caused by that same intern, which was very much of a bother considering the fact that he was trying to prepare for work. Doubly so since Satsuki and Mizuki were on one of those rare day offs, forcing him to get himself out of bed and get his suit and tie in this morning, certainly not helped by the Intern's asinine screaming early in the day.

Honestly, of all the damn days!

With much annoyance, Hiiro went over to where the cursed early morning tirade of his fellow Rider: his front door.

Swinging it open, Hiiro came face to face to the source his irritation, dressed in his casual jacket and clothing yet totally in a complete panic.

"What is it Intern? Can't you see it's too early in the day for your babbling?"

"_This!_"

The gamer moved his arms to his left behind him –almost close to one would call as dabbing- and points to a short white-haired girl in some kind of strange, outworldly librarian cloak that looked straight out of a some popular videogame, her cool blue eyes staring at Emu, clearly observing his gesturing self.

"And_ that!_"

Emu's finger then moved to the young long red haired girl to his right, wearing clothing that showed off cleavage with a bust decidedly not common for one her age, her face even looking like it belonged in some kind of anime along with the rest of her attire.

The red haired girl scowled at the finger pointed directly in front of her face, swatting it away, "Oi! I don't appreciate being designated as 'that' like I'm some kind object at a pickup shop!"

"Sorry, didn't mean to come off like that, Selesia."

Hiiro simply blinked at what he was seeing.

"What in the world are you even dabbing for?" He deadpanned. Getting his mind together, the dignified doctor went back onto the main topic of his morning conversation. "Okay, just…what do cosplayers have anything to do with the particular annoyance you are posing today?"

That was when the white haired girl decided to speak up, "Mr. Kagami." Hiiro turned to the girl, "Certainly you must have heard about the city-wide commotion last night, correct? People were looking to the sky, police activity in the streets, and news channels talking about a "mysterious flying object over Seito"?"

Hiiro felt a sense of dread coming down his spine, "Why, of course. What of it?"

"I'm afraid that was us."

* * *

After hearing some of the explanation from the librarian known as Meteora, Hiiro quickly grasped and understood the situation without any doubts, much to the Creations' surprise. The man's reasoning was simply that after the whole ordeal the planet Earth had with the Pac-Man virus, he couldn't bring himself to have any doubts of such a curious and disturbing development.

Long story short, Hiiro dressed himself with his doctor's attire before bringing the three to Seito University Hospital, where they could discuss this matter further.

But of course, one must start with a healthy pack of snacks to start a discourse. And so, our heroes attended to the canteen to fill up their energy…or mana, as any outworlders would call.

"Do you have the mayonnaise mentaiko flavor potato snacks?" Meteora asked at the counter.

The cashier of Seito University Hospital's cafe gave a completely baffled look at the two girls in front of him, "Mentaiko? S-Sorry, we don't have that here".

"Then, can I have one of those things, whatever those are?" Selesia asked a bit awkwardly, pointing to behind the counter.

"W-Well then…salt flavored karaage, one piece!"

Meteora gestures Emu to come closer.

"Money."

The Genius Gamer, now wearing his hospital coat with his own tray of breakfast food in hand, simply turned to Hiiro, who had his own tray that had a small cake. Knowing that he still couldn't afford his emergency cash, it was a rather logical decision to turn towards the wealthier of the two doctors.

And naturally, Hiiro wasn't even close to being pleased by this turn of events. He simply rolled his eyes and stated, "Of course." He grumbled while taking out the money from his pocket and giving to the cashier. He sighed. "Why do I feel like I'm handling a bunch of kindergartens, all of the sudden?"

"Isn't it too early for cake?" Selesia questioned as she and Meteora grabbed their food-filled trays, with her ready to take a bit out of the karaage.

"First of all, I'm paying for all of this, so you don't get to judge my eating habits." The surgeon began as he got back his change, "Secondly, I have a constant schedule full of patients that need curing, and so requires the right amount of sugar levels for me to keep up. Thirdly, and most importantly..."

Hiiro turned to the princess knight with the one of the most serious expressions she has ever seen in her life, in and outside of battle.

"It is NEVER too early for cake."

* * *

The group later sat in the meeting room of the Cyber Rescue Center beneath the hospital, using the time eating breakfast to pool up on the information they have. Armed with his cake knife, the surgeon cut the cake with the cleanest cut the either of the Creations had probably ever seen with relative ease. The actions he took and expression he put on his face was…elegant. It was astonishing that even he took such trivial matter seriously, one would assume that he was truly chivalrous in many ways…or that he was just too eccentric for one's taste.

Or perhaps both would suffice?

"Wow…I haven't seen such precise cuts for years." Selesia muttered. "Then again…it's all wasted for a piece of cake."

"I beg to differ, warrior princess. Cutting cakes has helped me a lot in my training of surgical operations. It requires extra precision, patience, and conviction. Especially, when you have to deal with operating knives." Hiiro justified before lifting one finely cut piece on his fork and eating it.

"R-Really? I've never even thought of that..."

"Sometimes even the simplest matter can be very crucial if placed into some situations, Selesia. Not everything in this world is about swinging your sword here and blowing up stuff there." Emu said after taking a sip of his morning drink. "Then again, that's Hiiro for you."

"I do not follow." Meteora simply said, "How exactly can something as trivial as cutting cake aid so greatly in regards to surgical procedures?

"Well, everything takes time, right?" Selesia responded.

"Can we PLEASE cut to the chase before anymore time is wasted?" Hiiro urged, devouring every single cake on his plate and didn't even bother to lick the one that stuck on his mouth, "Unlike you people, some of us have a precisely timed schedule that needs to be attended to on this very day."

"Oh yeah, ever the busybody Surgeon." Emu muttered. The surgeon simply ignored his quip because deep down, he needed a little bit of an amusement for his cold and calculative persona, hence why he was still willing to co-operate with the pediatrician himself. "Alright then. Let us carry on, please."

"So, neither of these two are Bugsters nor do they have any sorts of Bugster Virus traces." Hiiro stated as he took out another whole cake and prepared his knife and fork, "And that they are actually from another world -a videogame and anime/manga respectively- and came into ours. Is that correct?"

Selestia nodded, swallowing the piece of karaage in her mouth before responding, "That's what apparently happened, thanks to the Military Uniform Princess, you know, the one we were fighting last night?"

"Yes, it would appear that she has the ability to travel between the world of fiction and the world that spawns those places, the "land of the gods" so to speak, the one we are currently residing in." Meteora added.

"Intrusion!" Emu interrupted politely with a raised hand, "Can we PLEASE call her Bugsterina from now on?"

"What? Why?"

"Well, I dunno, because Military Uniform Princess took too much to say? I'm talking about efficiency here, people! We're not gonna waste our breath saying someone's name that almost took a single conversation sentence, right?"

"Then again, do you even know about her real identity? She hadn't mentioned any single clue of her origins, last night." Selestia questioned.

"Until we find that out, of course."

Hiiro leaned back on his chair, arms folded against his chest, "But how was this…"Bugsterina" even able to do that in the first place? What sort of power or ability granted her access to our world and spawning countless others of them here?"

"Gaining access to our world…wait, that's Kamen Rider Chronicle!" Emu exclaimed, making all the others stare in confusion at him for his outburst, "It's so obvious! Kamen Rider Chronicle turns the world itself into a game, causing the fictional and real worlds to become mixed together thanks to that power. So when Parado activated that Gashat..."

"It granted Bugsterina the power to go to and bring others from the fictional worlds and into the real one where they are born from: THIS world. Her having access to the real world is due to it becoming a part of fiction as well thanks to this 'Kamen Rider Chronicle'." Meteora finished, biting into a big piece of sausage, clearly thinking on this, "That solves one mystery then."

"If that's the case, then you two won't be the only ones from the fictional worlds now, will you?" Hiiro speculated, "Who knows how many others that girl would bring in thanks to her power?"

Emu sighed at this, "Just when I thought things couldn't get any more complicated...

"Who's Parado, anyway?" Selesia asked as the name was mentioned.

"He's a Bugster like the one we encountered last night. Unlike Salty however, he could also turn into a Kamen Rider. A strong one, at that." Emu explained.

"A monster turning into a Kamen Rider? Is that even possible?"

"In a world where fictional characters can be brought forth into reality with relative ease? You bet it is."

"Parado might be the first one to activate Kamen Rider Chronicle. But the question is, how could Bugsterina have that kind of power in the first place if other Creations… or even the Bugsters didn't seem to know about this?" Hiiro wondered.

"If you still doubt the phenomenon just now then maybe next you should doubt the existence of the employee and the existence of the store. Or the possibility that your actions dissociated from your cognition and are impossible to comprehend. After that, we enter the realm of solipsism and ontology. Or the only other explanation is the possibility that-"

"NO THANK YOU."

Meteora stopped herself at the English worded interruption, a piece ham left dangling from her fork as the other three stared at her like a weirdo.

"What?"

"Was that supposed to be a joke?" Emu questioned.

"I tried telling a joke to relax your heart." She justified herself, "Your heart should feel light right now".

"That was bad just now. Just. Bad." Selestia added on.

"It only adds the sauce of existential crisis, anyway. I mean, LOOK what happened to him."

Meteroa tilted her head cutely, as if not getting why it didn't work as Emu pointed at his senior, who buried his head into his hands, going through the five stages of grief at what he had to deal with now.

"What's the point in my life, then…?"

* * *

Taiga Hanaya was having taking an afternoon stroll when it happened.

As a formerly licensed doctor, he knew for a fact that being coped up in his abandoned and very illegal hospital area was very much an unhealthy habit to be in. As such, the original Doctor Rider decided he needed to go for some fresh air to clear his head. With Nico being absent, needing to 'stock up as a gamer like her needs to constantly be updated on what's new', thus, leaving the radiologist to his own devices, something that he hasn't experienced in quite a while.

So here Taiga was, dressed in his usual, civilian outfit of a black shirt with a yellow with red striped tied sweater over it, military looking pants and boots, walking along the sidewalk at nine pm at night, taking in the beauty the time of day had to offer him.

*BOOM!*

...Or at least, that was the plan. But the police station he just passed exploding in flames decided to ruin that simple idea.

"What the hell?!" Taiga shouted, completely taken off guard by the fire just bursting into life while wide eyed at the figure that just jumped out of it and land a distance from him.

This being all the more surreal by the fact that what came out of the flame was an armored long haired, blonde woman wielding a great lance in one hand and a dragon-like gauntlet on the other, while on a fairy-tale looking horsed that was also armored. All in all, she looked like one of those knights from ancient times...if it wasn't for the fact that she was holding up a man that rightfully never looked more terrified in his life.

'God, and I thought my life couldn't get any weirder!' Taiga thought, as he witnessed the lady knight shaking the man in her hand, yelling angrily and with far more burning fury than the fire behind her. Well, better put a stop to that.

Taking advantage of the anger the strange, armored lady, with caused her to not pay attention to her surroundings, Taiga ran towards the blonde, and at the last second, leaped in with incredible finesse before grabbing the scared man, rolling and tumbling the two safely away from the angry woman.

"Are you alright?" Taiga asked the shaking man.

"Y-You gotta get us out of here! I think she's trying to kill me!" The man answered hysterically, more than likely correct if Taiga was right about what was going on.

"What do you think you're doing?!" The armored lady behind the two screamed, somehow looking even more furious than before as she climbed off her horse, "The creator must answer for what he has done!"

Ignoring the ranting of the clearly dangerous blonde, Taiga put on the device he took out from his pocket and began to scan for-

"The hell? She doesn't have the symptoms of the Bugster Virus?" Taiga said to himself, completely dumbfounded at what he was seeing, turning to the blonde knight once more, "Then just what the hell are you supposed to be?"

"Something that is irrelevant to someone like you." She snarled, "Now I will only say this once: get out of my way or else there WILL be consequences for your foolishness!"

"Oh really?" Taiga questioned, getting up from his position, "And why exactly should I do that?"

The lady knight raises a lance in response.

"Because there's no way you'll be able to stop me from taking what I want."

Taiga takes out the Rider Gashat from his pocket.

"You talk as if I can't. Well, the only thing I can't let you do is endangering any innocents."

_**BANG BANG SHOOTING!**_

Yellow energy came forth from the device, spreading throughout the ground, causing Energy Items to come into existence, much to the bewilderment of the knight.

"What in the world?" She muttered to herself, looking around wide eyed as Taiga put on the Game Driver.

"You might wanna get out of here soon. Things are gonna get real messy, here." Taiga warned.

"So, you're one of those Kamen Riders, huh? O-Okay!" The man obeyed, scrambling to get away from the current area as fast as he could.

"Tactics no. 2, Henshin."

He inserted the Gashat into the slot before pulling the lever.

_**GASHATTO! LEVEL UP!**_

_**BA-BANG-BANG! BANG-BA-BANG! YOW! BANG BANG SHOOTING!**_

The ex-doctor pointed at the thumbnail in front of him as if he was shooting it. the Gashat's gate went through him, continued with navy pixel haze covering his body. The haze soon formed a set of armor and attached to Taiga's body parts piece by piece with the last being his helmet.

The armor's overall appearance was similar to that of Ex-Aid's regular humanoid form, only that he had several striking differences. His helmet resembled a military infantry helmet in navy that also covered the back of his neck. It was equipped with a headband that housed two green flashlights, a red dot light on the left top right beside an "STG" sticker on the other, and a silver mouthguard. The goggles had a pair of red sharp eyes, with the right one being covered with a lime hair bang-like faceplate.

He also had a navy colored short-sleeved jumpsuit-like armor with lime accents. Lime tribal markings ran through the jumpsuit's both sides. The torso's HUD-like screen was red, and in the back of his torso armor was an ornament of his helmet's deformed version. The overall armor's shape was rather blocky, one that would remind you of an experimental military power suit. He was also wearing a lime right-side cape that its length reached his thigh.

And so the scrawny doctor was then replaced by an armored figure of himself, under the name of Kamen Rider Snipe. You can surely guess what the name stands for, can't you now?

The lady knight stared at the Kamen Rider in front of, clearly not expecting this fight to happen in the first place, but not backing down as she tightened her grip on her lance.

"Kamen Rider, huh? I don't know what you are, but if you insist on getting in my way, then I shall bring you down!"

"So, we're just skipping the introductions, huh? Not that I care, but isn't that usually your kind of thing?"

"Just be silent and get out of my way!" She roared, insisting the interloper to leave as Snipe called upon his own weapon.

"Gotta be honest; this is more of Brave's kind of fight, but gotta take things in stride, I suppose."

_**GASHACON MAGNUM!**_

A circling thumbnail appeared on him, and out of it and now in Snipe's hands was a gun. Its color was dominantly black and white with a bit of a navy on the top. It had a yellow "STG" text behind a revolver with lime burst ornaments. Near the trigger were lime "A" and orange "B" buttons. On the rear side was its Gashat slot.

"Your spear against my gun. Let's see who wins this fight, shall we?"

Knowing that Snipe wouldn't waver from her threats, she finally gave in to the challenge. "Well, then. I accept this challenge you've dared to give, but I assure that you'll be the one to regret it!"

He raised his gun at the rapidly approaching enemy as he calmly said, "Mission Start."

The mounted knight charged towards the Rider first. He welcomed it with a spray of gun blasts that the knight easily blocked with her spear. However, she found out that Snipe had already jumped above her and shot his weapon, prompting her to dismount her horse. Just as the Rider landed, the knight charged her weapon at him, which he barely dodged it as the weapon almost hit his left waist. As a follow up, he was struck by the knight's left jab, prompting him to block it with his yellow cape that generated a beehive energy shield of the same color. Snipe was pushed back several meters. He was still able to keep his composure by skidding his feet on the ground.

"One question, though..." Snipe asked as he breathed heavily. "Why are you chasing that guy?"

"He's the architect of my suffering!"

"A…what?"

"I don't have time for this!" The blonde female knight raised her left gauntlet and began chanting. "Gotz Von Berlichingen!"

"Huh? Wait a minute! Aren't you that…?" Snipe sharpened his eyes to take a better look at the knight he was facing. His helmet's emotive eyes also mimicked his expression. He rubbed his chin and began to recall some of his memories, although he knew that it wasn't exactly the best course of action at the time. Still, he couldn't help but wondering where that line came from.

"I summon you with my gauntlet! **Donnerschlag des Jeghers…**" The gauntlet began to generate purple electricity that soon formed into a giant purple orb around it. "Reveal yourself here!"

The purple orb fired a huge electric beam that left ruin in its wake. Anticipating this however, Snipe prepared an orange Gashat in the name of "Jet Combat." He quickly inserted it into the Gamer Driver's second slot before closing and re-opening the belt's pink cover.

_**JET COMBAT!**_

"Tactics no. 3!"

_**GACCHAN! LEVEL UP!**_

_**BA-BANG-BANG! BANG-BA-BANG! YOW! BANG BANG SHOOTING! A GACHA! JET! JET! IN THE SKY! JET! JET! JET COMBA~T!**_

The purple ray swept everything away, leaving tremendous damage in its wake. No living being could ever survive the blast should they ever try to stand against it.

However, Kamen Rider Snipe was no ordinary human being.

With his quick thinking and arsenals, he managed to avoid the blast by arming himself with his flight gear. The blonde knight was surprised to see him alive and floating in the air with his sorcery, which seemed to have added on another set of armor.

Snipe was seen wearing an orange and white add-on armor that took a shape of a jet plane with a pair of air exhausts below the wings. The armor had a pair of pointy white shoulder guards, a pair of wings that attached to a cartoonish head ornament with sharp teeth, and a pair of gatling guns. His helmet was also attached with a pilot mask, complete with a silver mouthguard and an orange visor, with his hair bang-like faceplate was lifted upwards.

Knowing that the blonde knight had a lethal firepower, it was time for Snipe to raise the stakes with his Combat Shooting Gamer Level 3 Armor.

"Damn…I thought I was done for down there." Snipe muttered as he looked over the damage below, grimacing underneath his armor at the thought of being hit by it head on. "You know, for some time, I thought that outworld travelling is always a mere fiction. But of all things, I've never thought that you'll be the one who got summoned here…Aliceteria February."

"H-How do you know my name!?" The now named Aliceteria questioned, clear shock and slight panic on her features.

"Simple, you came from an anime franchise called "Aliceteria of the Scarlet". Everyone in this world knows who you are. You're crazy famous here." Was Snipe's response as he hovered in the air.

"Everyone…knows me?"

"I mean, that wouldn't be the case if I didn't know your name firsthand, right? Hate to say, but Nico's surely handy for all these shenanigans." The Rider deadpanned, recalling how the clingy gamer prodigy forced him to read through her entire ongoing saga.

"Don't play DUMB with me!"

"Eh?"

"What about the people in my home? What about the sufferings that we have to endure? If you know so much, then why…WHY DID YOU DO NOTHING ABOUT IT!?"

"What the hell's that all about?" Snipe asked himself, feeling himself shirk a bit at this sudden rage, "Is she self-aware in the same way of the Bugsters? If so...could that man from before truly be...?"

The marksman had no time to ponder this as Aliceteria the knight raised her gauntlet once more and chanted another spell. "**Gotz Von Berlichingen**, answer my gauntlet's summon knight of dawn...reveal yourself here!"

An army of horse-mounting knights appeared above the sky. They all wore their own sets of armor and wielded spears that were lit up and ready to shoot lasers aimed towards the Rider.

Now, imagine having an entire army all aimed their weapons at you, who were never even at the size of a 20 story-tall abomination, and they feel no remorse in doing so. It was also true that Snipe didn't detect any sorts of life signs from the knights, implying that they could be some constructs or something of that same vein. That being said, he needed not to worry on taking anyone's life from Aliceteria's side. But still, it felt like this just turned into a bazillion against one.

"Well, I'll be damned…" Snipe grunted as he inserted the Jet Combat Gashat into the Kimewaza Slot and pressed its button twice.

_**GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!**_

"If you're going to aim it all at me…"

Snipe grabbed the gatlings' handles tightly as they were energized by the Gashat's command. The head-like plate also opened up to reveal a small missile chamber that was also energized.

The knights fired their lasers as Snipe prepared his rocket boosters. He flew through the raining lasers, dodging them all and fired the energized bullets at his disposal.

"THEN LEAD IS ALL YOU'RE GOING TO GET!"

_**JET CRITICAL STRIKE!**_

His Gatling Combat muzzles were rolling and spitting bullets that pierced the knights' armors along with their horses. The missiles launched from the head chamber hit the enemies in quick succession and exploded upon contact. Even with some of the lasers hitting the Rider and almost breaking his composure, it would never stop him from smiting the knights into oblivion.

As the knights exploded behind the victorious Snipe, he quickly flew to where Aliceteria was, only to find her nowhere near the area. She must have fled by using the knights as a distraction. Snipe began to wonder why the imaginary knight was so content in chasing that man from before in particular. Thankfully, his helmet had a recording of the man's face.

"Let's see if I could find out what miss she-knight wants, here." He began to use the face recognition system to see if there is any match on Japan's citizenship database. It didn't take long for him to find the name he was looking for.

He searched through the database using the HUD and found one name. It turned out to be someone who was connected to the case, yet raised more question, at hand.

"Gai Takarada? So he IS that guy the one who made Aliceteria February. Then, why would she go after her own creator? I remember she mentioned something about her own suffering, but…" he deducted. However, he alone could never get to the bottom of the case. He sighed heavily due to exhaustion.

"Just when I thought my days wouldn't get any weirder than this..."

* * *

"Meteora, how about you tell more about yourself?"

Emu asked the white-haired girl about her identity. He wanted to make sure if there was anything he couldn't recognize from her. When you become a Kamen Rider, time passed by indefinitely so much that you might need to recall things that could be crucial in solving your problems at hand. The pediatrician might be a former, world famous gamer prodigy, but there would always be a time when he needed to collect more information and in this case, references since the main problem at hand was pop culture figures coming to life.

The white haired one he was currently questioning looked straight in his eye before decided to obliged the owner of the temporary living quarters, "Very well. My name is Meteora Osterreich, Librarian of the Library of A Thousand Miles, Kunst Wunderkammer at the end of the Last Tableland." She recited from heart as she has done so many times over in the past.

"Oh! "Avalken of Reminisce" isn't it? That's just right before the last area!" Emu pointed out. "Oh man, I missed that game when it first came out…I just finished it a month ago. You said on that stage, ""If you are able to succeed…,""

""Then make this sky blue once more." Yes, I remember those exact words, too. That hero was you too." Meteora recalled, fondness showing in her eyes at the memory. "So, did you enjoy your journey?"

"Hnnngggg! Yeah! Totally!" Emu enthusiastically answered. "It was a great one! I remember replaying that level just so I could see you again! To appreciate your faithful design is the greatest blessing this one gamer could ever ask for!"

"Just to see me? I never thought there are some players that would do that far." Meteora stated, flat surprise clear in her tone.

"I never knew you had such a particular appetite for gaming, intern. I must say that I am surprised that has ever come from you." Hiiro commented from seat, arms crossed in their usual position.

Emu simply grinned. He walked towards his senior doctor and presented his well-earned knowledge, resting his hand on Hiiro's shoulder. "Every sorts of pop culture is also a form of art, Dr. Hiiro. What could possibly be its goal if not to entertain people and pamper humanity's eye-candy nature? The best way to enjoy it is to appreciate how ours has come this far…and how they turned out as of today!"

"Wow, that's uhh…very enthusiastic from you." Selesia awkwardly praised from her own place on the table, never thinking she had to ever do such a thing for a topic she's only just heard of. "Really, I'd never imagine that you could even word those things out in that manner."

"What can I say? I mean, look at you and Meteora; pop culture figures that had been breathe with life, coming to our world in the most epic scenario ever!" The intern exclaimed, clear delight in his body language as he went on, clapping his hands together as he goes on to say, "We're heading towards the future; a new age where our wildest imaginations literally coming to life in the form of our worlds crossing with each other! That's the greatest blessing any Otaku, pop culture enthusiasts could ever ask for! Heck, maybe I'll become Japan's Minister of Earth-Creation Relations and rack up my merits!"

The pediatrician then grabs and holds both Selesia and Meteora's hands together, causing both unfictionalized ladies' bodies to lean over the table this conversation is taking place. "Now then, let's strive towards a better future together!"

This, of course, took both Creations by a huge surprise. Who could've expected that a pediatrician would go at such length in expressing his enthusiasm? All this time, they had been very occupied by their role as a main heroine and a navigator respectively, so much that they never thought that such thing caught the very eyes of Emu Hojo. Moreover, the pediatrician might not be the only one who had that kind of enthusiasm.

However, Hiiro Kagami, like any sane man would naturally be, seemed to be very skeptical about his statements.

"'Japan's Minister of Earth-Creation Relations'? Don't make me laugh." Hiiro scoffed. "Are you sure you've gone over those word in your head before speaking them out loud?"

"Oh? And why would that be the case?" Emu challenged, a lesser-known yet all too familiar smirk formed on his face.

"Looks like your Genius Gamer persona has taken you over and has over ridden your common sense once again. Well, then…" the surgeon stood up in front of his junior, sparking a heating argument. "First of all, you said it yourself that you have little to no interest in delving into politics and secondly, you could even barely manage to round up some rowdy kids into the hospital room. If you have lots of trouble in that, then how could you even hope to enforce your policy into Japan's society? Being a minister means going through lots of handful jobs."

Not wanting to lose, Emu countered, letting go of Selesia and Meteora's hands. "Well, someone has to step up THE GAME to ensure peace and order of this world and maybe countless others in here. Even if there are nice people like Selesia and Meteora, some rogue Creations would surely find their way to wreak havoc and endanger Earth-Creation relationships. That's where people like us come in, and unlike you, I'm ready to spearhead that agenda!"

"Don't lump me into your shenanigans, Intern."

"What? Not even a medal of honor would please you?"

"MY honor is successfully healing my patients to the fullest. You of all people should know that better than me. If not, then YOU'RE not qualified to be a minister, as of now."

"I WILL be a minister of Earth-Creation relationship, and not even Dangerous Zombie cretins could stand in my way!"

Suddenly, a phone ringtone from Hiiro's pocket rang, playing the medieval theme song of Taddle Quest. The oddly tense aura has suddenly dropped down as the two doctors looked at each other's faces. Emu burst in laughter and Hiiro rolled his eyes as he turned around, shaking his head, thinking at how they drowned themselves into such trivial matter and bluffed against each other.

However, Selesia and Meteora were both lost their tracks on the main topic of the argument.

"Umm, Meteora?"

"Yes?"

"I'm…not even sure what's going on with them, anymore."

"I must admit that their absurdity goes beyond the realms."

"Says you!"

"Dangerous Zombie? Really?" Hiiro sneered.

"Says the one who happened to watch too many Game of Knights lately!" Emu chuckled before taking seconds to calm down. "So uhh, you gonna pick that up?"

"No, it's just an alarm. My schedule's tight, remember?" The surgeon picked up the phone and turned off the said alarm. "Just as I thought…looks like I've wasted too much time in here."

"That's the perk of being with a rowdy bunch of people, I guess."

"More like you're the only rowdy one, here. And no, that wasn't a perk." He calmly corrcted. "By the way, you have no tight schedules as of today, do you? What are you going to do after this?"

"Simple, I'm gonna look up for some intels of their creators. They might be the key in solving this problem. Especially, if it's about our Bugsterina. Also, it's time to use our trusty laptop and a good chunk of Seito's Wifi."

Hiiro had his eyes drawn on the item that Emu had just brought in. It was a laptop that belonged to their fallen ally, Kiriya Kujo. The screen's rear side was embellished with stickers of Genm Corporation and Bakusou Bike logos. The surgeon could only sigh softly.

"Very well, I shall see you all later. Good luck with the search."

"And your work, too."

After Hiiro left the CR Center to his work, Emu went back to the Creations and began their search together.

"Sorry for the wait, you guys. Let's start now, shall we?"

"Sure thing! But, who are we going to search for first?" Selesia wondered.

"How about you first?" Meteora suggested.

"Really?"

"I believe that my curiosity lies on the origins of another people besides me and the world of Earth itself. I can still wait for mine in a while."

"Very well… Emu?"

"It's settled, then! Time to surf the net!" Emu began to open the laptop and took less time to activate it and went to search the internet.

"Umm…I don't see any beach, here."

"It's a…figurative speech, actually. Don't put your mind too much on it. Now here we go, one thing at a time." Emu answered as he casually typed the words needed. He typed the series' name Selesia was from; "Symphony of Vogelchevalier". Thanks to the wifi's speed, he was able to reach the series' official site and clicked on the creator's profile. It showed a picture of a man who was wearing a pair of glasses, having a wide forehead and a small beard that covered some of his chin section.

"Okay, here's our guy: Takashi Matsubara. He's your creator, Selesia."

"He's the guy, huh?" Selesia inspected the man with a bit of dissatisfaction on her face. "He doesn't seem that almighty to me."

"Almighty he's not, but he's still the mastermind of your world. The Dungeon master of sorts, if you ask me." Emu commented. "Then again, he still doesn't have any idea that you and Meteora exist. But not for long."

"How are we going to relay the message from here?" Meteora asked.

"That's a total piece of cake, Meteora. I can send the message directly to Mr. Matsubara himself using the Social Hub website. People use it for messaging nowadays, and life's been much easier with it around. You can also see news, watch videos, and even share them to your friends. Practical, isn't it?"

"A device with plentiful of functions…I think you might know about this firsthand, but we usually still write letters or relay communications with spells and such." Selesia told, fascinated by the capabilities of modern technology.

"This just adds more curiosity of my own. A good trait for you to have, Emu." Meteora added.

"Thanks!" Emu set the laptop's Social Hub message before checking on the camera. "I'll set the best meeting schedule and location to discuss our particular problem since he might be as busybody as Doctor Hiiro over here. Oh, and Selesia?"

"Yes?"

As he held his inner childlike joy, he asked the warrior princess. "While we're at it, mind if I…take your picture?"

* * *

It was a busy day at Takashi Matsubara's house as usual. The studio's editor-in-chief has been constantly nagging him about the process of his novel's continuation. Like all novel-based anime, the novel' story is usually far ahead than the anime, since there is a certain animo that is needed for the novel's serialization. It would also take a consideration from several studios that would animate the story. Matsubara was lucky that his story was very popular among the millennials.

However, he was still lacking some inspiration as to how he would continue his story. Supervising the anime making was already taxing enough to take his procrastinating time away from him. there was nothing that piqued his curiosity, either it was to plan some amazing story arc or to just simply insert some witty quotes.

Until his Social Hub notification rang a new message, one coming from a man with a username of "Pro Gamer M".

"The Genius Gamer M? Wonder what that enthusiastic game maniac has to say to me…" he mused as he opened the Social Hub messenger.

_Good afternoon, Mr. Matsubara._

_My name is Emu Hojo, though you might know me with my moniker as displayed on my username. I am currently taking on an internship at Seito University Hospital. By the way, I sincerely apologize to interrupt your procrastinating session, but may I ask your permission to meet with each other? I have a very important matter to discuss with you._

_This might be very difficult for you to take in, but I've witnessed your very creation, Selesia Upitilia coming to life. Yes, that very Selesia Upitilia is right here beside me. I have just taken a picture of her in a flesh to proof my evidence to you. I believe that this phenomenon is caused by the Kamen Rider Chronicle incident that had been announced by CR not too long ago and to that end, I'd like to request a meeting for this matter_

_The meeting will be held on the Tokyo Shopping Center at 12.00 PM. Again this may be unbelievable, but please bear it with me. Your attendance is highly appreciated in solving this matter together._

_Yours truly, Emu "Genius Gamer M" Hojo._

Takashi Matsubara had a lot to say, of course.

What else could make anyone having a sudden jolt if it wasn't the very Selesia Upitilia coming to life on Earth? He saw the picture that the person sent below the message and Matsubara couldn't help but wondering as to how her appearance fit his description very, very well. She gave off a reluctant smile with a "V" finger gesture.

It was a very curious turn of events, for sure.

"Wh-WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?"

* * *

Nico Saiba was at your average Otaku store when she appeared.

"And that should be it! Talk about a score!" The Genius Gamer N exclaimed excitedly, practically gushing over the multiple games she's managed to acquire, smelling the content just waiting to be opened.

Ahhhh, nothing quite beats the feeling getting new games!

It was a feeling that she most definitely needed since Kamen Rider Chronicle came and and decided to try and ruin games for her since ACTUAL death was a thing there, making it taint the whole gaming world itself.

Nice try, but it'd take more than a little risk to ruin gaming for Genuis Gamer N herself! Especially when it came to bargains like these!

However, just as she was going to the store counter to pay, she saw some purple haired girl in what looked like a red and black school uniform try to leave the store...without paying.

This didn't go unnoticed by the late aged man at the counter, "Hey! Miss!"

The school girl stopped herself as she was out the door," Yes? What is it?" she responded, eyes closed and smiling a smile that didn't look quite normal for a girl her age.

"Can you please pay for that book?"

The schoolgirl gave a faux-confused look, the kind that reminded Nico of herself when she messes with Taiga, "This is my book." she stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"What are you talking about? Shoplifting is a crime!"

At that, the schoolgirl gave a frightening smile that sent alarm bells in the Genius Gamer's head.

"What if I can prove this book is mine?"

She said this as she opened her pair of gold eyes that looks like they've found their latest victim.

...Shit was about to hit the fan, wasn't it?

The purple haired girl held out the book in her hand, a sinister intent clear in the air, "In this book, on page 196, there's a note written in pen." she informed him, challenging him to prove her wrong, hiding the venomous trap within.

A trap Nico knew to snip out before anything happened.

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU THAT I WOULD PAY FOR IT!"

Both occupants jumped at the yelling of Nico, who wasted no time to jump in and grab the head of the purple haired girl, forcing it to bow down along with hers.

"N-Nico?" The shopkeeper mentioned her name.

"I am so sorry for her mister!" Nico profusely faked an apology, much to the surprise of the older man, "This idiot just loves to cause trouble for others!" she gestured to the struggling purple haired girl.

"Wait? Who? What?!" The taller girl questioned in genuine confusion this time around, still processing how the situation was just turned on its head.

Ignoring the confounded girl she just released out of her hand, the second greatest Genius Gamer quickly took out her wallet and threw what looked to be more money than she needed to spend, "Hope this covers that! I promise we won't bother you like this ever again!" she states as she begins to shove the purple haired school girl out of the store forcefully, clearly evil book in hand.

"W-Wait, you forgot your change!"

"KEEP IT!"

Just as the two girls left, the shopkeeper muttered, "Young kids, these days…they should all just behave well like that little gamer."

A few minutes later, Nico found herself panting, hands on knees as she proceeded to try and catch her breath while being watched by the red and black schoolgirl who looked bemused, "Wasn't that a bit much to go for a random girl like me?"

"I didn't do it for you, I did it to save that old man in the store!" Nico huffed back, standing up straight to meet the other girl eye to eye, "Don't think I don't know you were going to do something bad to him!"

The purple haired girl simply smiled with those sharp teeth from before, "Oh really? What makes you say that?"

"This damn book!"

Nico lifted the book that the taller girl was going to give the shopkeeper, waving it left and right.

The taller girl shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not. Why don't you open it yourself and see-"

She was cut off by said book being thrown right into her face by Nico, "Like hell I will! I know for a FACT I'd be screwed if I did that. Don't think I can't see that obvious trap from a mile away!"

Much to Nico's disturbance, the taller girl laughed madly as a response.

"Oh, aren't you just _precious!_" She crackled as the book fell onto the ground, "You are going to be SO MUCH fun to play with! What's your name girl-who-I-have-decided-to-make-my-official-playmate?"

Despite her better judgement, she answered, "Saiba... Nico Saiba. You?"

"Magane Chikujoin! Pleasure to meet you new best friend!"

And from that moment on, their destinies had been entangled to one another.

* * *

Three of our heroes finally decided to meet Selesia's very own creator at the designated Tokyo Shopping Center. It was already 11.50 AM, 10 minutes away from the meeting schedule. Matsubara himself had already agreed on the terms since he was also in dire need of a fresh air himself, , something Emu understood all to well. Along with Selesia and Meteora, whom Emu lent his coats to, they were all expecting the creator's estimated arrival.

"So, uhh…you guys think he's gonna show up?" Emu asked to kill some time.

"It would be a tad bit easier since we've identified an individual instead of a company. I've also read several interviews about Matsubara. I must say that he is an unscrupulous person with a lot of curiosity." Meteora commented.

"Wow, just as I suspected from a creator. I know that kind of person all too well. And on top of that, you're really resourceful, Meteora." Emu complimented.

"Thank you. One must obtain the knowledge of an unknown if they were to survive in the middle of a nowhere." She replied.

"And as for me…I'd really like to think that my creator isn't such a stupid and careless person." Selesia commented.

"Oh come now, Selesia. There's no need to keep your hopes up, but there's no use in expecting a let-down. Then again, he has absolutely ZERO knowledge of how did you come to be." The intern assured.

"I know, but still…"

"He's here."

And speak of the devil, Meteora had just spotted the prey. Only that he looked like exactly what Selesia described, much to her own dismay.

"A stupid and careless person…" She sighed in disappointment.

"Don't judge the book by its cover, Selesia. Do I really have to rephrase that again after last night?" Emu reminded, hand on hip.

"But-!"

Emu leant closer to the warrior princess, whispering his advice. "Remember, we need communication to understand each other better…let the feedback do the talking, and the truth shall set us free."

"Okay! Okay! No need to be so pushy! Geez…" She pouted, reluctantly proceeding with the mission.

And good luck was the pediatrician's silent whisper before she left.

Selesia Upitilia approached the very man who built her story: Takashi Matsubara. The man then turned around to see his Creation in a flesh, much to his awe. His eyes were beaming with joy at how sophisticated the girl of his own Anime came to be.

"N-nice to meet you!" Matsubara said.

"Many thanks! It's nice to meet you, too! Ohohohoho~!"

"At first, I thought that picture was photoshopped but, wow…" the man inspected in amazement. "Okay, are you a foreigner? Ehh, not exactly… Or a mix, perhaps? Your clothes look exactly like the ones in a movie!"

Yes. this took her in a big shock, totally. To be praised in such manner and having her clothes complimented like so…she could only awkwardly smile, hiding many of her thoughts of either anxiety or joy. Then again, this was her creator, and he was yet to know what was truly going on. Perhaps if they proceed further, the explanation would go well.

"What a curious person he truly is." Meteora sighed.

"Then again, curiosity is the very essence of humanity. That's no surprise, coming from him." Emu replied.

"True." She accepted, knowing how Emu reacted to her story back then.

"You're exactly just what I imagined! So much that it's a tad bit scary…" Matsubara observed.

"I bet that's for sure…" Her face quickly shifted into her all-in-serious mode like western comic books. "Because I'm the REAL thing."

He's still not buying it, though…

"Yeah, sure! You DO look like a real thi-"

And suddenly, a tip of a sharp blade was enough to silnce him.

"Let me correct it for you: I DON'T look like the real thing. I AM the real thing, Mr. Matsubara. Or perhaps…Mr. Creator."

"Aaand, there goes the word, Mr. Matsubara. She IS the real thing." Emu stepped in, lowering Selesia's weapon with his bare hands, also much to the man's disbelief.

"This is neither a Halloween nor a cosplay event, we assure you." Meteora add-on.

"Y-You're… Emu Hojo, right?"

"The sender of the message himself, yes. nice to meet you, Mr. Matsubara." Emu offered him a handshake, to which he staggeringly accepted after the whole debacle. "And the girl over here is Meteora. She's also a living Creation."

"Living creation!? You're not trying to prank on me now, are you? Who the hell are you guys supposed to be!?"

"Relax, we're just your friendly local law-abiding citizen at the moment, if you exclude breaking the law of physics, that is." Emu jokingly whispered the last part under his breath. "As unbelievable as it is, please bear with us. This is the real deal, and there's a better explanation for that."

"Huh? Okay…alright, this is just…"

"Do you believe us, now? We believe that all of this is happening because of "Kamen Rider Chronicle". Have you heard of it?" Selesia asked, sheathing her blade.

"The game where people bet their lives on? What does that have to do with any of this?"

Suddenly, the group witnessed a crowd of children rounding up a young girl. She was seen having a pink hair and wearing a set of latte sailor school uniform outfit, complete with a white hat

"Oh my…looks like everyone here knows my identity." She muttered as she scratched her head in embarrassment.

"Well hoo-lee smokes, that must be Magical Slayer Mamika! Looks like we got another Creation inbound here, Meteora!" Emu stated excitedly, hands clapping to reflect his tone of voice.

"Found you!"

* * *

Mamika later gestured the group to gather around. Although, she had a difficulty even in remembering the Creations' names.

"I-I'm sorry!" The little girl apologized.

"Just as klutzy as ever, huh? That's a straight-out anime character to 'ya." Emu mused, walking around the young creation with an eye of a true otaku.

"However! I came here to convince you guys!" The pink-haired girl began to those listening to her introduction. "My name is Mamika. Mamika Kirameki. In order to defeat Akumarin, who steals the power of smiles, I received a power to transform into Magical Slayer! And, umm…the person who gave me that power is the Fairy of the Land of Eternity, Mirimiri-"

"H-Hold on a sec! what the hell is really going on here!? What's this "Magical Slayer Mamika" thing about!?" Matsubara shouted.

"Eh? Even an adult knew about me, too?" Mamika innocently wondered.

"What's wrong about this old man watching your show!?"

"Whoa there, calm down now…" Emu placated. "We can discuss this together in my place, I'm sure that we'll get to the bottom of this together, so let's all relax out for now and talk about this together, okay?"

"Easy for you to say!" Matsubara replied.

"Now then, what do you really want?" Selesia asked, making it a point to currently ignore her creator and host.

"I heard about it, from the Military Uniform Princess." The mention of the name had everyone but Matsubara jump. "She said that this is the place where our worlds are forged, that the people there who are in trouble or pain can be saved with this world's power!"

Selesia sighed. "I can only imagine what she said to you, but you have to know that it's not that simple, Mamika."

"But why?! Isn't your world a terrible place where everyone is fighting against each other!? I can't forgive a God who creates a world like that!" the Magical Slayer exclaimed, which caught the strings of Selesia's own heart knowing that it was right. However…

"As much as I'd like to agree with you…" The warrior princess exchanged a glance with her creator. "I'll decide what kind of person our God is myself!"

"B-But why…?"

"Then again Mamika, do you even know what kind of person that girl is? I know that she talks sweet. But the truth is, she's here to-"

"No!" Mamika halted the young intern. "She warned me about you…you're a warmonger who faked yourself as a doctor!"

"SHE SAID WHAT?!" Emu shouts, sounding genuinely offended at the notion, "Oh, that is the biggest load of -?!"

Mamika didn't take a long thought to act herself. She took out a heart-shaped ruby brooch that was decorated with a pair of white wings and blue ribbons. The brooch let out a burst of heart-like energy that soon turned the amulet into a magical staff.

"**Magical Dolce Pattisiere!**"

As Mamika pointed her staff forward, the plain panorama turned around into an eye-catching candyland-like view, with her clothes changing as well. She was seen wearing what you might call as a magical girl garment, having dominant colors of pink with magenta lines. The small heart brooch became bigger and was embedded into her vest. On her waist were a magenta belt and a relatively huge blue ribbon on the back. Her twin tails were tied with decorative ribbons. She was also seen wearing a pair of shorts under her skirt, winged gloves and magenta shoes with blue ribbons, with her white socks stood out of the shoes.

"Magical Slayer Mamika! Don't tell your friends!"

"No way…" Much to Matsubara's disbelief, she transformed and struck a pose in front of a cheering crowd.

"Ain't this just awkward…" Emu grumbled, still ticked off by the previous accusation.

"Selesia, _please_ don't cause a commotion." Meteora reminded.

"Yeah, tell that to her!"

Meteora's warning fell on deaf ears as Mamika began to make a chase towards the warrior princess, in which they flew off of the building's window and breaking it.

Mamika shot a couple of heart-shaped energy blasts that damaged the building in the process. Selesia had to dodge them all if she'd ever wanted to make it out alive. To make matters worse, the blast also caused several falling debris to the crowd below, which prompted Meteora to fly down and cast a magical barrier to protect them.

"Quick thinking, Meteora." Emu sighed in relief, before turning a completely stunned Matsubara. "So much for a window to hold these off, huh?"

"Are you serious?!" The astonished creator turned to the intern and approached him. "Just who the hell is that girl that you brought here! This can't be real right!? Huh!? This can't be real, right!?"

His reaction was no surprise, of course. Any normal person would freak out seeing their imaginary characters able to do those kinds of unrealistic stunt, maybe even less if you mention all the flying, blasting, and casting a magical circle along the way.

"Yeah, you know what? I used to think the same thing, too." Emu nonchalantly smiled while another explosion went off.

"Wh-What are you?"

"But this…THIS is what our world has turned into, Mr. Matsubara." Emu held on the man's hands, putting them down from his shoulders. "The Kamen Rider Chronicle has filled this world with wonders, one that will change this world forevermore. Or so I thought. That's why as a former pro gamer and as a doctor, I have enlisted myself into this game of wonders to seek out the truth behind all of this myself."

_**MIGHTY ACTION X!**_

"Now, we're really sorry for the minor inconvenience, but we'll take care of it. I promise." Emu took out his Mighty Action X Gashat, much to Matsubara's surprise as he suddenly realized what the former pro gamer had become.

"It can't be! You're a-!"

"Henshin!"

_**GASHATTO!**_

_**LET'S GAME! METCHA GAME! MUTCHA GAME! WHAT'S YOUR NAME?**_

_**I'M A KAMEN RIDER!**_

"Just as the Gashat says! Oh, and please find a safe vantage point from here. Someone has to stop a rampaging Magical Slayer who has no idea what she could do in this world." Ex-Aid in his Level 1 form then jumped out of the broken window to Matsubara's surprise.

"H-Hey!"

"GERONIMO!"

_**SPEEDING-UP!**_

The Rider then grabbed the speeding-up Energy Item below, which turned him into a rolling ball of yellow energy before he burst forward onto the fray with Meteora watching from below. He also generated a few chocolate blocks as his jumping platform to gather more of the same Energy Item. It helped him maintain his speeding-up duration as he navigated through the battlefield.

Meanwhile, the dogfight continued towards another higher building next to the shopping center's rooftop, where Matsubara was also present.

The progress was still the same however, where Mamika shot off heart energy beams and Selesia dodging them all. Because of this, both Ex-Aid and Matsubara thought the same thing; without Vogelchevalier, this is as far as she could go.

Ex-Aid quickly gathered more Energy Items for his reserve, knowing that no matter what, he would need more defensive tactics against her bombardment.

"It's all or nothing!"

Selesia was prompted to enter the building in order to avoid more blasts. Her efforts became vain all of the sudden as Mamika was expecting her to come out through the exit hole.

"**Magical Splash!**"

"SELESIA!"

_**IRON-BODY!**_

Ex-Aid's metalized Level 1 form took the magical girl by surprise for a bit the moment she swung her energized staff. The attack caused a huge explosion and hit the two yards away. Ex-Aid quickly de-metalized his armor in order to cushion Selesia from the fall. It caused a loud boom and the ground to be cratered. He hit the ground first and had his arms off of Selesia as they sled.

The view of their steaming bodies caught Mamika by shock, clearly terrified to see the damage she had done with her powers alone.

"A-are you both okay!? Did it hurt?"

"Of course, it did…"

"But…this can't be…there's usually no blood from my attacks…"

"In your world, it's true. But this is the similar pain I've felt from my world."

"But…" Mamika decided to keep her composure. "Do you understand, now? If you don't-"

"You're gonna beat me up and make me beg for forgiveness? Heh, you may continue, anyway. This might've not been the part of your plot, but my story is radically different than yours." Selesia responded as she got up. "You must never chase idealistic fantasies if you're going to bring justice. See it through with your sheer force alone, and make up your mind for that."

"Don't be so overproud! I just-!"

Mamika lent her hand to help the warrior princess up. However, she was welcomed by a diagonal slash from Selesia's sword without a single drop of hesitation.

"Your story was probably filled with reasonable people. So remember this well; if you're using force to serve justice, no one's gonna follow your idealistic scenario…let alone agree with you!"

"Please stop! I didn't mean to hurt you! I don't want to fight if it means going that far!"

"Don't be so spoiled!"

"Please listen to what I have to say! If you don't-!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Ex-Aid's roaring voice put the battle in halt. In his deformed Level 1 armor, he walked and stood up in front of Selesia, gesturing her to lower her weapon. Mamika however, was riddled as to how Ex-Aid had such get up.

"The warmonger!? And…what's with that chubby costume!?"

"I'll pretend that I didn't hear that bit just now. But I think you should be the one to listen, Mamika." Ex-Aid instructed. "That girl who brought you here…we called her Bugsterina. She's not what you think she is."

Mamika wasn't buying it. "Your tricks won't work against me!"

"Do you even KNOW who that girl is?" The words put her to halt once again. "She might be a good poet, I'll give her that. I know she could sway anyone with her words alone. She might be right that this world is the origin of yours, Selesia, and Meteora, where creative minds gave birth to wondrous worlds. But the truth is…she's been lying about _saving_ the world."

"What?"

"Just because your world's suffering, doesn't mean ours doesn't. You've seen what you've brought to this world with your own powers alone. THAT is what Bugsterina's really after. I know you're a good person Mamika, so let's all settle down and talk before anyone else gets hurt."

The words of the Rider struck Mamika, giving her a benefit of doubt for her motivations. She was staggering while holding her magical staff. However, she began to remember the words that the Military Uniform Girl, or rather Bugsterina, gave to her.

_"No matter what happens…you must never waver from your resolve to a man like him."_

That alone was enough for her to take action. Her eyes suddenly became that of a warrior. She quickly went into her battle stance, wishing to do what Selesia told her to: seeing things through with power.

"No…I've made up my mind. I'll save my world and use this world's power to save it!"

"Mamika…"

"Looks like she took my words well." Selesia commented.

The girl generated a massive heart energy from her staff with no more hesitation. Selesia was right. She had to make up her mind or else she wouldn't get anything she wanted.

"Yeah, no kiddin'. In that case…" Ex-Aid prepared his Gekitotsu Robots Gashat, placing it into the Gamer Driver's left slot. He prepared agesture that was almost similar to his dabbing, only with both of his hands clenched and his right arm spinning as he chanted the magic word.

"Dai-Dai-Dai Henshin!"

_**GACCHAN! LEVEL UP!**_

_**MIGHTY JUMP! MIGHTY KICK! MIGHTY-MIGHTY ACTION X!**_

_**AGACCHA! BUTTOBASE TOTSUGEKI! GEKITOTSU PUNCH! GEKITOTSU ROBOTS**_

Mamika then launched her attack against the heroes.

"**Magical Splash!**"

As the blast made its way towards Ex-Aid and Selesia, the Rider was immediately clad in his Level 3 armor and grabbed the energy with his robot gauntlet like pinching a balloon. As soon as it exploded, Ex-Aid stood his ground and defended Selesia from it.

"To be honest, I still have something to say on my behalf, too. But if this is the way to get through you, then so be it!"

Ex-Aid didn't take long to make his move against Mamika. He charged head long towards an array of heart energy barrages with his power-type add-on. Mamika's attacks were surely powerful, but it was all she could do at the time, not to mention her flight capability. She kept on bombarding Ex-Aid with some of her attacks made contact with the Rider's body. Despite the explosions, Ex-Aid was still able to regain his stand thanks to his increased armor durability. Amidst the barrage of deadly pink, he decided also used his Gashacon Breaker hammer alongside his Robots gauntlet to either toss her attacks aside or return them to her.

_**GASHACON BREAKER!**_

The first attempt caught her by surprise, which prompted her to use her own heart spell to defend herself from the deflected attacks. Her evasive maneuvers didn't seem to weaken over the course of battle, either.

"Just because you can shrug my attacks off, doesn't mean you can hit me that easily!" Mamika boasted.

"We'll see about that!"

_**SPEEDING-UP!**_

Ex-Aid took out the first Energy Item from his reserve and ran throughout the battlefield to increase his momentum. With the help of his chocolate block platform, he was able to get close towards the Magical Slayer.

"I won't let you!"

Expecting, this, she quickly casted another **Magical Splash** that blew him meters away to a building, but not before throwing his Gashacon Breaker towards Mamika and hit her left arm with it.

As the dust settled, it was revealed that he had already casted his protection firsthand.

_**IRON-BODY!**_

Added with another…

_**HIGH-JUMP!**_

And it saved him time to lay a hand on Mamika. The Iron-Body defended him against the explosive spells as the High-Jump increased his momentum as he leapt towards her. He was finally able to knock her off the air, hitting the ground beneath her. He undid the former Energy Item's effect as the latter was still intact, gaining another momentum by leaping high and activating his finisher.

"Here goes!"

_**GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!**_

_**GEKITOTSU CRITICAL STRIKE!**_

The Rider's gauntlet unfolded its inner thrusters and lit them all up. It boosted him right towards Mamika, executing a powerful rocket ground pound, seemingly aiming towards the unlucky girl's face. She could only cover her eyes as her body was bruised from the fall; the attack's impact cratered the ground and let out a loud boom, with dust flying from the broken streets.

She opened her eyes to see that he intentionally missed Mamika's head a few inches away to the left. His Robots gauntlet was buried quite as deep as its wrist.

"You know…maybe you're more right than wrong about me being a warmonger because I got this kind of power." Ex-Aid spoke face to face to the completely stunned magical girl. "I mean, I _really_ enjoy game competitions, measuring your strength and weaknesses against your opponent, trying to outrank them…but the thing is, I chose to wield this power because I want to protect people."

"...You do?"

"It's part of the reason why I became a doctor, too. I've spent most of my youth chasing an empty victory, now I'm doing what's best for humanity and to make this world a better place. But in the end, all we're doing here is just holding ourselves back against each other. All because we don't wanna hurt innocents." Ex-Aid lamented.

From afar, Matsubara rushed towards the scene once he got down the rooftop. He threw his gaze towards the transformed form of Emu Hojo, having witnessed the most, if not the entirety of the fight. He couldn't help but wonder as to how a former pro gamer such as him could reach the heights of superhuman strength with the help of his beyond military-grade equipment. "So…this is the power of a Kamen Rider…"

"Mr. Matsubara." Meteora greeted, causing the older man to jump up in surprise.

"So, uhh…how long have you been with that guy?" Matsubara asked sheepishly to her.

"Would you believe us if we told you that we'd just met him a night ago?"

"I know. Weird, right?" Selesia commented from the other side of Matsubara.

The creator was left speechless that he could only left a "Huh…"

"What do you mean, 'huh'?"

"...That's why, I'm sure we could all just talk." The pink clad in red Kamen Rider continued on from what he was saying, "Sort this out, and-"

The Rider's words were immediately cut by a heavy blast directed at him, resulting in Ex-Aid and Mamika being knocked away and separated from each other due to the shockwave. He quickly regained his composure and searched for the blast source, which came from a very familiar face.

A jester-like Bugster appeared on the battlefield. He had an overall appearance of white with red accents. His head was that of a red devil, covered in a white hood. Red and white garter belts were crisscrossing through his torso. He had a longer and sharper red nails on his left hand's point and middle fingers, and his right hand was carrying a red staff. His lower garments consisted of a baggy cloth with red and white chessboard motif on the left and a pair of pointy shoes.

_**"Greetings, Sir Ex-Aid."**_

"You're…Aranbura!"

"Another Bugster?" Selesia wondered as Meteora descended to their location.

"Aranbura Bugster, generated from the Taddle Quest Gashat and served as its primary villain, much like how Salty was from Emu's Mighty Action X." The latter informed.

"You mean the Bugsters we know until now came from the games of Gashats like what Emu has, right? All of them are these 'videogames' that he mentioned." Selesia deduced. "And you're from a videogame too, aren't you?"

"Indeed. I may not be originating from a Gashat, but I am certain that there could be more Bugsters out there."

"Whoa…how did you even get that info so quick?" Matsubara asked the white-haired girl.

"I am a librarian. Storing information is already a part of my daily chores."

_**"Now, you don't mind if this magician joins the fray do you, little lady?"**_ Aranbura slithered._** "I promise you, this pesky Kamen Rider won't stand in your way…of annihilation!"**_

"I…I don't want to hurt anyone more than this! I've had enough!"

_**"Do you, now? I am certain that you'd be lying if you say that you have never felt the thrill…for destruction!"**_

"You will make no promises, monster!"

Another energy blasts hit the Bugster, coming from the blonde female knight, Aliceteria February, who rode on the back of her flying steed.

_**"A female knight? How gratious. And here I thought I'd be stuck with the minty one."**_ Aranbura mused, raising his staff in preparation.

"There's more of them!?" Matsubara was surprised.

"Whoa, Isn't that…Aliceteria February?!" Ex-Aid gasped. He recognized the blonde female knight all too well being a pop culture enthusiast himself. "To think; Aliceteria of the Scarlet is my favorite, too!"

"Come now, we're out of here." The knight said as she picked the injured Magical Slayer up to put her in the back of the saddle, taking flight and leaving the scene. However before, she could go on with out looking back, an approaching figure caught her eye from below.

From the other side of the field, a revving sound was suddenly heard. Everyone's attentions were drawn towards the surgeon, who was seen riding a uniquely-designed yellow dirt bike. Its headlight resembled a mask with a magenta Mohawk ornament, having a pair of goggles albeit without a pair of emotive eyes. Hiiro pulled the brake and skid in between the heroes and the enemies.

"Looks like this chariot handles well in my presence." Hiiro mused.

"Oh, hey! Done with your lastest operation?"

"That I do. I've grasped the situation quite well, intern. I also happen to chase that mongrel all the way here." He gestured towards the Bugster.

"And what's with the bike? I thought I'm the only one with Bakusou Bike, here." Ex-Aid pointed at Hiiro's newly-earned bike.

"It's one of the data he left behind a while back. Turns out that Bakusou Bike is relatively easy to mass produce. Good thing the programmings are quite easy to do." He said as he prepared his gears; the Gamer Driver and a blue Gashat with a knight sticker, depicted as "Taddle Quest".

"And now, Aranbura… it's time for us to tie up our loose ends."

_**"Speak of the devil…indeed!"**_

_**TADDLE QUEST!**_

The Gashat's game screen appeared behind the surgeon and sent out several Energy Items around the area.

"Wait, he's a Rider too!?" Matsubara exclaimed in disbelief.

"I know. Weird, right?" Selesia repeated. "I remember Emu mentioning that there are more Riders other than them. We just haven't met them all, yet."

"Somehow, I'm beginning to think that this battle is just like one of those action anime episodes." Matsubara muttered.

"Skill Level 2, Henshin."

_**GASHATTO! GACCHAN! LEVEL UP!**_

_**TADDLE MEGURU! TADDLE MEGURU! TADDLE QUEST!**_

The Gashat gate went through him after he chose one of the spinning thumbnails, depicting a knight in blue helmet. He was covered in blue pixel haze that soon form a set of armor. His overall appearance was that of a medieval knight. His helmet had blue hair-like plates that were combed backwards, with a short ponytail popping out of it. Silver medieval faceplate with a pair of sharp visors and a white mouth guard were also present, his emotive eyes yellow.

His jumpsuit armor was black with blue sword-like accents running down through it. the chestplate's screen was yellow. He also had a pair of blue shoulder guards each had a single sharp spike popping out. Unlike Ex-Aid, his arm plates were white, each had a sleek appearance and chain mails connecting the joints. Said chain mails were also present in some of his armor's joints each with corresponding colors to where the chain mails were being put into.

Kamen Rider Brave's transformation immediately caught Aliceteria's eyes as she suddenly felt an urge to see the battle through. She then decided to take a vantage point where she and Mamika could spectate the battle safely.

"That knight…we're going back."

"Eh? But why?"

"There's something that I need to see from this battle. That man somehow gives off a strange feeling to me." The female knight explained, dismounting her pegasus in an empty rooftop not too far from the scene.

"Heh, looks like we're gonna have to clear this with no continues!"

"Commencing operation: remove Aranbura Bugster from existence."

_**"You are welcome to try, Kamen Riders!"**_

The Riders momentarily exchanged their glances before charging towards the evil monster.

With the help of his wand, Aranbura summoned several elemental magic gates that contained flames in it. he either shot them from the air or summoned them as landmines. Our heroes marched forward without fear. Brave easily dodged the attacks and landmines as Ex-Aid withstood them with his Level 3 armor. As they were getting closer towards Aranbura, Ex-Aid gave his fellow Rider a jump boost to initiate his flying slash attack, summoning his sword and pressed its 'B' button several times.

_**GASHACON SWORD!**_

Brave delivered a heavy blow towards Aranbura, who quickly summoned his barrier rune to protect him. it might be impossible for Brave alone to penetrate Aranbura's defense, but Ex-Aid reinforced the attack with a rocket-powered jab right at the same point where the impact hit. The barrier was finally broken, leaving Aranbura to fend off against a flurry of the Riders' attacks.

The Bugster was seen only using parries against Brave's Gashacon Sword. Despite only carrying a magical cane, Aranbura's skin was sturdy enough to withstand the flaming blade, thus why he was able to block the sword with his bare arms. However, the fact that he was double-teamed still stands. Both Ex-Aid and Brave knew that Aranbura's proficiency in magic-based attacks made him weak against physical attacks. He might still be able to withstand the normal attacks due to him being upgraded thanks to Kamen Rider Chronicle, but just a harder push might do the trick.

As Brave continuously swung his flaming sword against the monster, Ex-Aid went for Aranbura's openings in his defense. He threw his gauntlet fist at Aranbura's left rib as the latter lifted his arm to defend himself against the Gashacon Sword. This left him staggering momentarily, giving a room for Brave to execute his flurry of attacks once again by pressing its 'B' button, powering it up. Sparks flew from Aranbura's body as he was being pushed back.

_**"Don't even think that would be enough to stop me!"**_

The blue Rider wasn't fazed by the Bugster's statement. "We shall see about that. Intern!"

"On it!"

_**KO CHIN!**_

With an 'A' button press, Brave charged towards the enemy ahead with his Gashacon Sword's ice mode ready, having its edge generated an ice-like blade. Expecting this, Aranbura quickly summoned a small rune on his palm, which exploded in contact with the Rider. However, Brave had already raised his blue shield on his left arm that enlarged itself to protect the user. From behind the Rider, Ex-Aid swung his Gashacon Breaker sword and grazed the monster's chest. Thanks to the 'B' button boost, a single hit caused a three-hit damage to the monster as generated by its "HIT!" balloons.

As the attack went on, Aranbura managed to withstand the damage and summoned a blue ice rune that froze Ex-Aid in his place. He was about to summon an explosion rune right on the Rider's face until Brave cancelled it by striking the monster's hand with his frozen sword. An explosion then occurred from inside the frozen hand, which sent him feet away from Ex-Aid. Brave also undid the ice spell with his sword.

"Thanks."

"Just don't let it happen again. Continue with the operation." Brave responded calmly.

"Roger that!"

The two Riders charged at the monster once again. not wanting himself to be forfeit from the battle, Aranbura began shooting several ranged elemental attacks from either flame, ice, typhoon, and earth runes, prompting the heroes to dodge them all. Despite being slow, Ex-Aid managed to break through some of its attacks until Aranbura casted an explosion rune on the former's tracks and blasted him away. However…

"Brave!"

The pink Rider threw his sword forward at Brave which the blue Rider immediately caught and used it to strike Aranbura's blind spots. He then took out his Taddle Quest Gashat and put it into the Gashacon Sword's slot. He also took out a yellowish gold Gashat with a unique dragon head ornament on the bottom and was labeled as "Drago Knight Hunter Z", depicted by a dragon on its sticker. The said Gashat was put into the Gashacon Breaker's slot.

_**GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!**_

_**TADDLE DRAGO KNIGHT CRITICAL FINISH!**_

Both of the swords in Brave's possession generated blue and golden energy along with several cartoonish lightnings. He began his attack with a slash barrage that slowly damaged and froze Aranbura's limbs that slowed his movements before stabbing his enhanced Gashacon Sword to the monster's abdomen, freezing him in place. The Rider then jumped back and had himself covered with a golden energy construct of a dragon. He also summoned a chocolate block as a stepping stone to give him the momentum he needed to launch himself towards the incapacitated Bugster. As Brave crossed his sword-holding hands, the dragon construct also did the same as its claws were sharpened. An energy Item also happened to be nearby his launch trajectory and he quickly grabbed it, boosting himself towards his target. He swiftly delivered his final blow and Aranbura Bugster finally exploded in defeat.

This stunned Matsubara in an awestruck as a creator, witnessing such sparks, explosion, and light shows as he thought, to be made into reality.

"Holy smokes…"

"Umm, Mr. Matsubara? Hello?" Selesia waved her hand in front of her creator's face with little-to-no effect on him.

That didn't last long until he began to speak. "I spent my entire life, creating a story that made it into the screens… yet I'm seeing it with my very own eyes. Is this what fantasy really looks like?"

"Don't ask me." She replied.

"It seems that his mind has been overloaded with everything that happened here." Meteora commented.

"I guess that's a plausible reason for the people in this world. Then again… you gotta admit that their teamwork's amazing." The warrior princess commented. "I can tell that they've been working together for some time. Just like me and Charon…" she muttered the last part.

"If anyone can reach a mutual understanding, this is both the literal and metaphorical result."

"Guess you're right."

And they weren't wrong in that regard. Back then, there was an initial disagreement between the two Riders in the past. As opposed to Ex-Aid, who concerned himself more with his patient's well-being, Brave came out as a cold and uncompromising surgeon whose core concern was the result alone. However, thanks to Ex-Aid's earnest effort in staying true to his heart as a doctor, the two had finally come to the terms of their cooperation, resulting in a spectacular teamwork that none has ever witnessed before. Even Brave had to admit that his junior intern had more than just his mere words to prove so.

"That was brilliant coming from you, intern." Brave complimented.

"Don't sweat it. just take it as my apology back then." Ex-Aid noted on his past mistake.

"There's no need for apology. In fact, you may have given me some ideas on dual-wielding techniques I could think of later."

Ex-Aid sweatdropped upon hearing the blue Rider's statement. "Don't tell me you're gonna use two scalpels or knives at once after this…"

"You read my mind well. But I'm still considering it." Brave stated in conviction, causing his fellow Rider to sweatdrop.

"Yep, it's officially happening… on a later date."

* * *

"Kamen Rider Brave…" Aliceteria muttered.

"Something else on your mind?" Mamika asked.

"Not much. We''re getting off here now. I've seen enough."

"Right."

The two Creations finally flew away from the building with Aliceteria's pegasus. Who would've thought that even in the world of Gods, knights even exists? Aliceteria would surely like to test their mettle later. Then again, there was this Kamen Rider Snipe that had almost got the better of her back then. When she gave another silent thought of it, Snipe and the two knights she just witnessed looked rather similar. Could it be that they were somewhat related?

On the other hand, Mamika couldn't seem to shake off what Ex-Aid said to her. She could've hurt or even killed the pink Rider with her amount of power. And yet… he didn't stop. Somehow she could tell that he didn't do that just so he could lie to her. Then again, she needed more answer from the girl that he called Bugsterina who told her about what they were earlier, assuming she wasn't that much privy.

Or perhaps…

"Kamen Rider… Should I really need to see this through with my own power?"

* * *

**(A/N)**

**Hey, people! Welcome to another chapter of Blood on the Hands of a Healer! A 2****nd**** one, that is!**

**So, the Heisei Era of Kamen Rider has officially ended with the finale of Zi-O. I gotta say, I really enjoy it as an anniversary season despite its flaws. Call it as you may, but Zi-O also helped my favorite Rider Decade gained an equally massive popularity with each other. Just as expected of an anniversary-type Kamen Rider, eh? I mean, I'm also a sucker for Legend Rider powers, so those two immediately caught my eyes. Lastly for this section, shout out to the amazing main and recurring casts, especially to So Okuno who splendidly nailed his role as the young king, Sougo Tokiwa, and let's all welcome the new Kamen Rider Zero-One of the Reiwa era!**

**Also, you know what's the funniest thing about this crossover? It's the fact that these two shows were airing at the SAME time two years ago! Can you imagine how utterly jarring it is to watch two eerily similar premises back to back from live action to anime and vice versa? That's where my buddy, BigHead89 got the idea from! And I gotta say, he got me real good, for this. And I'm also thrilled to do this fanfic, too!**

**And guess who just came to dinner early?!**

**Yep! It's none other than Magane Chikujoin! See, there's something that piqued our interest from her. It's the fact that Magane is a dark mirror to Nico's personality! Both of them are bubbly, but their true persona foils each other. Which is why, we found it interesting to put her together with Nico at this point. Also, expect more of this from the characters involved in the story later on, if you can find out which are the ones.**

**Edit: FYI, my buddy BigHead also made a TV Tropes page for this fanfic! Go check it out!**

**More and more Creations were brought forth by Bugsterina! The three main players, or rather NPC of the Kamen Rider Chronicles are all present! Can our heroes get more answers now that Matsubara had already been reeled in? What Bugster would wreak havoc next? And can Mamika find an answer to her own uncertainty?**

**As usual, leave your comments in the section below and remember, BE CONSTRUCTIVE.**

**Until next time.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Of Guns and Swords

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kamen Rider and Re:Creators as they both belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

Under the night's starry sky, a man was seen walking through an empty construction site. He was in his 30's or more, having a red hair, beard, and moustache with a bit of gray on both of his hair's upper sides, and additionally, he can be seen wearing a pair of glasses. His clothing consisted of beige and brown business attire with a red tie, with his entire body being covered by a large dark brown trench coat with golden accents.

Taking his hands out of his coat pockets, the man lit up a cigarette as he stared up to the night sky, lamenting everything he had went through recently and how he arrived at his current surroundings.

Just like any other Creations, he was initially confused as to how he was brought upon this…world of the gods the Military Uniform Princess spoke of.

He also remembered that she promised him to bring back a certain someone that was very special to the man, an offer that he himself couldn't seem to deny.

Just as he closed his eyes to feel the breeze of the world's fresh air, the man felt a presence from behind that he was still very unfamiliar with. The glasses wearing man turned around to see that the presence came from an orange creature who had an appearance that was reminiscent of a combat jet. The head took a form of a jet pilot's helmet with a single long horn that looked like a jet's dorsal fin, on its shoulders were a gatling gun on the right and a short upward wing on the left. with its chest resembled a jet's front body, complete with its frontal nose, with the right arm donning a jet turbine, and its left one mounted a pair of missiles.

The Vernier Bugster scanned the mysterious man in front of it, preparing for his next target.

_**"Human detected. Commencing destruction."**_

"Not a very welcoming one, are you?" The man sighed almost nonchalantly as he reached to his pocket.

_**"Greetings are irrelevant. Human destruction…is our goal."**_

Vernier fired his shoulder-mounted gatling gun at the man, who quickly ran to find a cover and inspect his perpetrator. He didn't seem to be particularly surprised by Vernier's appearance more than its actual looks - as if it was something he was used to on a regular basis.

The coat wearing man took a quick glance at the monster whose equipment resembled that of a plane from his home. Knowing that, he twisted the watch on his left wrist that enabled him to take flight. Seeing this, Vernier proceeded to do the same.

_**"Enemy is able to take flight. Activating flight boosters."**_

As the fight took place in the sky, Vernier quickly shot his shoulder gatling aimed towards him with little to no success; the man swiftly dodged the bullets at a surprisingly quick succession. However, the Bugster could surpass the man's speed as proven when the video game monster began to chase him.

As soon as Vernier caught up to his target, he swung his right turbine arm at him and delivered a strong gale that shot the man down towards the ground. Vernier then shot below at the coat wearing man with his missiles that exploded as soon as it seemingly have reached him.

_**"Target eliminated. Returning to-!"**_

Vernier was too late to realize that his target had already flown behind him, having his handgun aimed at the monster. The man pulled the trigger and fired a bullet with a powerful explosive force that shot Vernier down. The Bugster was pushed down so fast that he couldn't recover mid-air even with his boosters.

He hit the ground and cratered it, letting out a loud boom noise. As the dust settled, the man descended to Vernier, with the latter had his optics took another good look of his supposed target.

_**"Target identified: human combatant…non-conventional firearm. Records…not found."**_ Vernier grunted in his robotic voice. _**"Who…are you?"**_

"Blitz Tokar: that's the last thing you'll ever hear, son."

And so, the fight ended with a single gunshot at the unlucky Bugster's head.

* * *

The military uniform-clad girl - currently known as Bugsterina - was sitting on a rubble of a derelict building, staring at the sheer beauty of the night's moonlight.

"Setsuna…I met him." She began her outer monologue with her tone of voice softer than usual. "Yes, the one who just became my greatest obstacle is your own dearest brother, Emu. Strange, isn't it? I didn't think he'd be involved in our quest, at least, not at this point in time. Who would've thought someone like that would become this cruel world's so-called defender? "Kamen Rider Ex-Aid", as he called himself, ridiculous as it sounds... and as he looks."

She continued on, breathing heavily as she crossed one leg over the other. "And can you believe it? He called me a name he made up all by himself. What was it…"Bugsterina"? He's just as priceless as you might remember him as. Yes, it is too bad indeed...but never forget: he's also a part of this world that banished you."

The albino leaned back, closing her eyes as she complimented her next words.

"I have vowed to always be your ally…even after I raze this world with my own hands."

She reopened her eyes just in time for two figures emerge from the shadows of the building behind her. Aliceteria and Mamika returning to report their own findings.

"Welcome back, you two." The girl wearing the military uniform greeted without turning.

"Umm, where's Blitz?" Mamika asked innocently enough, looking around for the older man.

"He said that he just needed a fresh air. No need to worry."

"I see…"

Aliceteria suddenly interjected with a heightened tension in her voice. "Why didn't you tell me about the guardians of these lands?"

"Oh?"

"You said that this is the world of our Gods, the great Creators of life and that we would have the opportunity to right the sins they have committed against us. I don't ever recall you mentioning anything about this world having its own guardians."

"And yet, you don't seem to be surprised at your encounter with them." The younger looking woman nonchalantly dismissed the questioning with a question of her own.

Aliceteria frowned at the deflection, "I was just able to keep my calm this time, just so you know. But I wouldn't lie if I'm not being surprised by their presence alone. So how about you tell us more about them before we proceed?"

The one named Bugsterina was silent for a few moments, searching for the right way to answer. However, she couldn't bring herself to lie to her fellow Creations, for she must be clearly honest about her intentions. After all, that is the utmost foundation of an indomitable will.

And so she chose her words accordingly.

"This world is truly filled with wonders, I must say. When I arrived here for the first time, I must admit that even I had never foreseen the presence of these Kamen Riders. I can already tell that there could be much more to them and this world just by your tone of voice, Aliceteria. An eventful day, it must've been for you two."

"You've been here longer than the rest of us, so it stands to reason that you are the first one of us to encounter them. You could've told us about it sooner, couldn't you?" Aliceteria pressed further.

"To quote the Earthen expression: "Show, don't tell." I just simply think that it'd be better if you see it for yourself. I have underestimated a Kamen Rider once, and I never intended to do that again. Which is why I am pleased that you are able to observe them. For that will turn the tides in our favor soon." Bugsterina explained. "By the way, have you gotten what you wanted back there?"

"Regrettably, no. I've been ambushed by an adversary." The blonde knight scowled, a fist clenched at the thought of what happened that night, "One of those Kamen Riders, the one with a yellow scarf of some kind, interfered and allowed my target to escape. He proved to be more than capable of outwitting me in a battle with enough power to annihilate my summons alone." she reported frustratedly.

"ONE of them. Now this is interesting." The Military Uniform Princess smirked slightly, amused by the and knowledge. Clearly these Kamen Riders were a force to be reckoned with.

"But…we can still save our worlds if we keep going on like this, right? Even with these Kamen Riders' in our way?" Mamika asked quietly, although she unnoticeably concealed her uncertainty from the others.

"And for that, you had better not lie to us." Aliceteria strongly stated, backing Mamika's claims.

The military girl took a deep sigh before delivering her statement. "Please, Your Highness. I have never told a single lie to you. This world's fundamentals are…unexpectedly very sturdy. Certain procedures are always needed in any sorts of worlds. Disturb it enough, make it crumble, and make it crack. I want you - all of you – to disrupt the very common sense of this world. That is how we will accomplish our task."

She took another look at Japan's starry sky and the moon, making a silent promise to fulfill her desire - no matter what lengths she may have to go to see it through.

"Very soon, we shall make their Godly power ours…to reshape our worlds."

* * *

"Okay, so let me get this straight: you doctors here are some of the Kamen Riders that's been on the news lately since that whole incident, with you guys in particular being doctors who use the power of weaponized videogame substances to fight the Bugster threat that emerged during the so-called "Zero Day"?"

It was the next morning and one Takashi Matsubara had been invited to the Cyber Rescue Center to discuss about his place in current affairs. After the events that he personally witnessed yesterday, the creator couldn't possibly been left all by himself. Moreover, Takashi didn't show much protest due to having a dire need of inspiration, which he believed could be gained by spending his time with the Kamen Riders. Back when he was in the scene, he felt a sudden surge of ideas just by seeing an explosive fight between armored men, a sword-wielding princess, a magical girl, and a monster, with such a spectacle being something that could only occur in fanfictions. But just in the matter of a day's incident, such scenario was witnessed by Takashi's very own eyes.

And so, he sat in the chair provided in the underground treatment center and crossed his arms while getting his thoughts together. Emu, Hiiro, Selesia, and Meteora were there to listen to his ramblings as he struggled to digest the information given to him.

"Precisely." Hiiro corrected, taking a sip of his morning coffee.

"And that the whole "anime-characters-coming-to-life" schtick is the cause of whatever you're fighting against now, right? What was it called again?"

"Kamen Rider Chronicle." Emu corrected, folding his hands together patiently - a habit formed from dealing with so many different patients for so long. "A game where you compete by gambling on your own life in the battlefield for pure wish-fulfillment and joy. That's basically it, at the very least. We believe that it also might be the cause of the emergence of Creations from various franchise mediums."

"How so?"

"We believe that this might be the cause of a massive game field that had been generated by a large-scale use of Kamen Rider Chronicle. Whereas we use only videogames originated from Genm Corporation, it also leaked towards the fundamentals of imagination itself. It should also be obvious if it also affected those who are not originated from Genm Corp. itself." Hiiro theorized.

"So this Kamen Rider Chronicle thing is a gateway that causes the Creations to appear on Earth. But if we stop the real-time game's distribution, shouldn't it cut them off of the gate?"

"Honestly, we wish it could've been that simple." Emu sighed, disliking the reality of the current issue at hand. "But here's the thing: Kamen Rider Chronicle is sold to individuals. There's no telling exactly how many had been bought up 'til this moment - legally or otherwise. Then again, some of them might still be using it for a reason, even if the Health Ministry Center had already commenced an embargo on the product itself."

"Simply put, some people just can't give it up, not helped by the game also tempting many with the wish it promised on its endgame." Hiiro added on with a grimace, "As much as we'd like to stop it, all we've been doing so far is delaying the inevitable. We might have persuaded the public to stop playing it for the sake of their lives, but the publishers behind it will always find their way to sway people and eventually stand in our way. That's why we still need to keep the Bugsters away from the people as much as possible."

"Not only that, we still need a player progress through the game so that we could further advance to its ending and 'clear' it, thus finishing the game. Otherwise, they're just gonna keep coming since our status as the game's NPCs won't do us much good since we're not active players. We're also hoping that we could end the new big boss and bring our living, fictional friends back home." Emu finished his explanation. Although Selesia didn't quite like the last part.

"Ahem! Do we really look like an imagination to you, now?" She huffed with arms crossed, Meteora from behind nodding rapidly in agreement.

"Well, you're my Creation, aren't you? That means you are." Matsubara pointed out.

"Hey, I AM real now! And There's Meteora and the whole Bugster thing you saw yesterday! You can't just dismiss them all at once!" Selesia rejected, turning fully to the man she owes her existence to.

"Guys! Both of you are right." Emu reaffirmed, making a calming gesture with his hands. "The line between fiction and reality in our world has become blurred thanks to Kamen Rider Chronicle's activation. Which means that IF human fiction is the key factor to this particular problem, then we need to use our heads to set things straight once and for all." The former pro-gamer then turned to Takashi, "When it comes to the arrival of the Creations, we are the "Patient Zero" here, Mr. Matsubara. Which means, we'll also be needing your help from now on."

"I…guess that can't be helped, then. Alright, I'm in." He accepted as he scratched his head, very much aware how much of a wild ride this was inevitably be.

"Thank you for your corporation. And with the power of human mind, we can create even the most impossible things! To the Creations, WE are their alpha and their omega. Only by the power of human imagination we can defeat the rogue Creations and Bugsters at the same time! Two birds with one stone! Whoop!" Emu swung his hand like a baseball batter. "But hey! That's just a theory! A-"

"-Game theory. Yes, yes, we get it, Intern. Your game fanaticism says a lot of you." Hiiro interjected blandly, causing said intern to trip on his own words as the surgeon took another sip of coffee.

"Aww, but I always wanna say that!" Emu whined.

"It seems that your other personality has taken over at the moment." Hiiro observed, "It's human life we're talking about here. Do you honestly have time for needless referencing only you two will understand?"

"Well, no need to say the obvious. It takes the fun out of referencing!"

"Still, what happened yesterday may count as "crazy" to the Earthen terms." Meteora stated out loud, getting everyone's attention, "And we're all gonna need yet another "crazy" solution here if we are to deal with the Bugsters and rogue Creations."

"...Did you just make a pun?" Selesia deadpanned. "Not that I'm against it, though…"

At that moment, another person made their presence known as a figure rose up from the stairs. It was a black-haired doctor that looked like he was in his mid 40s, wearing the similar doctor attire as Emu and Hiiro and was seen holding a tray with several cupcakes and cups of tea.

"Ah, you must be the guests that Hiiro talks about! Sorry for the wait. Please have yourselves with these!" The older man greeted cheerfully, placing the tray of goods onto the table with great care.

"Oh! Umm…thank you." Matsubara thanked, politely taking a cupcake from the tray, "And you are?"

"Oh, forgive my manners! My name is Haima Kagami. I am the director of Seito University Hospital and of course…"

The now named Haima went over to the side of Hiiro - who already had a plate filled with a cupcake, raising a knife and fork - before clamping his hands on the younger doctor's shoulders.

"...Hiiro's proud father!"

"You're his father?" Selesia stated in clear surprise, "Wow, so the doctoral blood runs deep in this hospital..."

"Right? A hospital director and a skilled surgeon. What more we could ask for a family?" Emu remarked as he poured himself a cup of tea.

"I-It's nice to meet you, sir." Matsubara reached over and shook the man's hand, feeling the ever slightest insecure at the sight of a man around his age so accomplished.

"Likewise! I know how eventful yesterday was for you but please, make yourselves comfortable, here! It might not be much, but I hope I could satisfy your taste buds!" Haima greeted politely.

"After all, even we doctors take an extreme pleasure in sweets." Hiiro remarked as he ate the piece of cupcake on his fork.

Meteora went over to the tray filled with sweets, while Selesia raised an eye-brow at this claim. "Yeah, isn't it just you though?"

"Ooh, what fancy cosplays you two have! Must've been a rough day outside too, eh? May I know your names, too?" Haima asked, which caused Selesia to sweatdrop in confusion and hesitance, not knowing how to elaborate her and Meteora's reason of existence.

Hiiro sighed after swallowing. "Father, you may not believe this, but…they are imaginary figures that came to life days ago."

"Eh, really!?" The director exclaimed, eyes bugging out at the information just given.

"I'm Selesia…"

"And my name *munch* *munch* is Meteora."

"Whoaaa…umm, are you sure that they're not Bugsters?" Haima questioned, suspiciously poking the chewing cheeks of the librarian.

In response, the surgeon took out his device and projected a holographic screen that depicted the two Creations' physiology. "Out of our curiosity, we've performed an examination to those two not too long ago. They might be Creations, but they're from a much different origin than that of a Bugster. Their cells perfectly replicate any other human cells in general, such as organs and the like."

"However, unlike ours, their cells always let out some sort of, uhh…blue haze as if they're digital beings, which, essentially, they are. It's identical to a Bugster's orange haze. I saw that kind of pulse firsthand when I entered Earthmelia by accident and met Selesia there." Emu added. "And most of all, they're capable of magic or any sorts of abilities that they have in their own stories thanks to their fictional origins. So, now we have the three sentient intellectual species that live in our world right now; humans, Bugsters, and Creations."

"Wow, that could be a great discovery for biological studies! I mean seriously, you two could come up with piles of great research papers! Even Busgsters alone are already handful one, especially with the way things are, right now." Haima stated.

"Research papers?" Meteora asked next to the tray now emptied of all sweets, licking a smudge of frosting off of her cheek.

"It's an academic obligation of researchers to write down everything they know, especially when it comes to a discovery of a new knowledge." Explained the director, as he frantically took out a note pad and a pen before he began writing down notes, "We humans thrive to fully understand our world and the boundaries of our reality. There are still so much that we don't know about our own world. Heck, even our oceans still contain the greatest mystery of planet Earth! That's why this alone will be the greatest scientific achievement in the history of Seito University!"

"I think I can understand that. It seems that this world values knowledge more than some of our worlds could ever have. I am impressed." Meteora said in clear approval.

"Such is the words of a librarian." Selesia commented as she took a cup of tea offered by Emu.

Suddenly, they received a video call noise. Haima turned on the monitor on top of the wall, displaying two familiar faces who were distant, yet they kept on a close contact with the people of CR. They were the radiologist, Taiga Hanaya and his young gamer -and self-proclaimed- assistant, Nico Saiba.

_"Whaddup, losers?!"_ The girl shouted, clearly and purposely as obnoxious as possible.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the gamer princess and her prince charming." Emu retorted.

_"H-Hey! Who are you calling princess!?"_ Nico growled in annoyance, leaning closer to the screen threateningly. Even Taiga was a bit taken back hearing it.

"Princess?" Selesia wondered.

"It's just him calling her names. Then again, this is his 'M' persona talking right now, so it isn't that surprising." Hiiro explained without missing a beat.

"Guys, meet Taiga Hanaya and Nico Saiba. They're our assistants from a clinic. That's it." Emu introduced with his uninterested look.

_"Hey, don't ignore me!"_

_"What do you mean "that's it"?"_ Taiga wondered out loud, as ever befuddled by the "M" personality.

"From the look of things, you two aren't here just so the Intern's opposite self could annoy you, right?" Hiiro pointed out. "If not, then let's get on the core issue I have a feeling we're already familiar with. What's the problem this time?"

Taiga sighed in response, turning his glance towards the new attendees of the CR office. _"Before I start, let me ask you guys something: are those two cosplayers?"_

"Ah, funny you should say that." Emu answered, chirping up suddenly. "Yes, they're wearing fancy costumes from Vogelchevalier and Avalken and no, they aren't cosplaying. They ARE the real deal. "Creations", we call them. At least, if I'm right about you two encountering imaginary characters that come to our world."

_"Well, that's…you're right."_ Taiga admitted, a bit speechless towards how deductive the "wimpy intern" was about the problem that he just encountered previously.

_"So that means…no way! Are those Selesia Yupitilia and Meteora Österreich I'm seeing there!?"_ Nico's widened her eyes in shock.

"The ones and only! Lucky me, huh? They're my favorites!" The young doctor bragged as he went towards the mentioned girls and patted their shoulders in pride.

_"Wow…they're like, really REAL, here."_

_"What kind of wording is that?"_ Taiga deadpanned.

"Do you see it, now? This is every otaku's best wet dream! No more 2D or 3D characters: this is real life we're talking about, baby!" Emu gushed exaggeratedly before wrapping his arms around his two, newest friends. "Oh, if only you and Taiga could hang out here much longer, Nico…" he bragged with a fanboyish smile, much to the furiously reddening face of his fellow Genius Gamer on the other side of the monitor. Next to her, Taiga did his best to hold his exasperation towards such behavior that could only be projected by between two true otakus.

Thankfully, before Nico could blow up on screen, Haima choose then introduced the other guest. "Oh by the way, this is Takashi Matsubara, Vogelchevalier's author."

"N-Nice to meet you there!"

_"Great, now we have two authors that got involved in this mess at once."_ Taiga groaned, rubbing his face while ignoring the introduction.

"Umm, hello?"

"Don't mind him, Mr. Matsubara. That's just the kind of guy he is." The director assured.

_"It seems there really is something going on, considering what happened with me and Nico last night."_ The man with the white streak in his hair claimed before elaborating, _"I encountered a female knight called Alicteria February when she's trying to abduct her creator, and Nico met a schoolgirl with purple hair called Magane Chikujoin at an arcade center. Either of them sound familiar?"_ the radiologist questioned rhetorically.

"It's really hard for me and my otaku brain to lie that I don't." The "M" influenced Emu admitted, putting a hand under his chin, adopting a thinking pose. "Aliceteria of the Scarlet and Record of the Night Window Demon are the two series those girls are from. Looks like Kamen Rider Chronicle really added more salt to the injury, huh?"

_"So you're saying that Kamen Rider Chronicle is the reason why these Creations exist?"_ Nico asked.

"It may still be a theory, but we believe that it is much closer to the truth. Kamen Rider Chronicle turns the whole real world into a game arena. Even though the Ministry of Health had been actively pulling the product from the stores, its effect still remains at large. Not to mention that there are still people who are unwilling to return the Gashats." Hiiro explained, causing Taiga to frown, leaning back on his chair.

"And it looks like with its widespread real-time game arena effect, it also affected some other forms of media like animes, novels, and even videogames outside of Genm Corp origin." Emu added.

_"Hmm…that makes sense, actually."_ Nico muttered, armed folded in her own form contemplation.

"And here's what makes things interesting;" The intern activated his own device around his neck, materializing a picture of the military girl he encountered. "There is a Creation who claims that she had brought all of the Creations into this world. I called her "Bugsterina" since we're still yet to identify her. I tried to look up for her in the internet, but it's still a dead end. She doesn't show up on any sorts of franchises."

_"That's weird. Of all the Creations we've encountered, she's the only one who isn't well-known in the public. Then again, her looks doesn't even ring a bell."_ Nico deduced as she squinted her eyes at the image before her.

"She's also strong. Very strong." Selesia spoke up.

_"Huh?"_

"The first time I arrived in this world, I was still fighting her after I got pulled away from my own home world. Even with Emu and Meteora's help, she was still able to endure all of our attacks at once. She's not something that can be defeated alone." Selesia explained.

_"Really? Well, with the way things are now, I'll keep that in mind. But if she's as strong as a Bugster general could be, then I won't lose."_ Taiga stated confidently.

_"And there you, go. No problem at all!"_ Nico supported brashly.

Emu turned himself away from the duo and took a silence for moment, the personality of "M" slightly residing to give way to his more common personality. He looked at the ones present in the room, and he noticed how Hiiro looked away from them, displeased by their blatant cockiness. Such a sight gave the intern some remembrance of his own experiences of the feeling whenever his Genius Gamer persona took over, especially seeing how Taiga and Nico had been taking things lightly.

However, Taiga as Kamen Rider Snipe was strong and Nico as a newly-appointed Ride Player was also rather crafty when push came to shove. Emu knew that such talents are necessary in order to end Kamen Rider Chronicle once and for all. The problem is that they were unwilling to fully cooperate with the CR, especially since the latter was underhanded at the time with the absence of a certain benevolent Bugster who was their guide and sometimes mediator. Even his fellow surgeon gave up working with them, especially since he had a history with Taiga.

But he was not about to give them up. Especially when entire worlds are at stake.

Clearly, this tension between the two groups has gone far enough. Someone has to take the chain of command, someone who keeps everyone in line with a loyalty to none but the mission and what is necessary to fulfill it, including not leaving anyone out of the group.

Emu made a quick promise to himself: he wouldn't act passively. Not anymore.

And so, he revealed his ace in the hole.

_"Oi, M, what's wrong?"_ The younger gamer from her screen asked, noticing his fist clenched to his side.

"That being said, I'm gonna need your full cooperation in this particular matter." Emu stated quietly before turning towards the screen again, speaking up with a much firmer tone of voice than before, "And by full I mean we're gonna do this PROFESSIONALLY. Since you've been such a wreck in the past few days ago, I'm gonna have you to comply with MY terms of cooperation."

_"A wreck? Huh, look who's talking now."_ Nico snorted dismissively.

_"Did you forget what we just said? We'll clear the game on our OWN terms."_ Taiga clarified.

Raising his tone, Emu began to exert his authority. "Well, I'll tell you what my term is: I'm gonna clear this game with no continues TOGETHER with my whole team, and that includes you two. Also I'm gonna keep dragging you guys in whether you like it or not."

_"HUH!?"_

"Intern, what are you saying?" Hiiro asked, gaining an accusing tone in his voice.

"Since Nico has the brains and status of a Ride Player and Taiga has the brawns of a Kamen Rider, they are necessary in advancing our goal to end the Bugster threat and stop Kamen Rider Chronicle since it's near impossible to completely stop it with our Rider powers alone." He turned his glance towards Hiiro, Taiga, and Nico respectively. "After all, you of all people should know it better; the game's already changing. Our enemies have united against us. It's high time we do the same."

Taiga was clearly still not convinced. _"And what if we don't want to comply with you, huh?_

"Then I'll just have to make you DO it. And to be fair, this goes for Hiiro and everyone else in this room, too. We NEED to stand together. Otherwise, humanity will perish alongside us in it." Emu justified.

_"So now you go with all that talk, huh? Who do you think you are ordering us around?!"_ Taiga demanded again.

"Someone who doesn't give a single damn about your personal grudges and want to get this problem solved real quick. Now you and Hiiro can have that feud of yours for all I care, but I'm gonna shove it off of your head just so you could do your job as a doctor as many times as it takes!"

"H-Hey Emu…" Haima hesitantly tried to calm the young intern down.

_"The hell-!?"_

_"You listen here, you-"_

Emu shouted in an authoritative tone, interrupted and pointed at the girl. "No, YOU listen to me! I'm sick of you pushing me away when all I did was being nice to you! And what, you're still pissed that I quit being the Genius Gamer M? well, fine! here I am fighting for the sake of humanity while you're stuck with a vendetta against your so-called rival and being a frickin' sore loser for the rest of your godforsaken life!"

_"Wh…Wha-?"_

"Intern, that's enough! We won't get anything if this goes much longer!"

Ignoring Hiiro's plea, Emu continued on heatedly. "But unlike Hiiro here, I'm gonna take my pleasure in wasting my time to annoy you two until you're all willing to cooperate! After all, if you're still not gonna comply with my SIMPLEST term, then I'll just have to use you by any means necessary! Sounds fair, isn't it?"

The room was filled with silence. The other doctors and Nico were all struck by their own disbelief at Emu's authoritative behavior. The young man had surprisingly become more assertive in fulfilling his job as a Kamen Rider. Never before he had exerted himself in such manner, perhaps enough to make Poppy shocked to oblivion.

Emu then delivered the final statement. "So try all you want, but I ain't gonna give up on reeling... no, DRAGGING you guys into the fold! WE are in this together and I'm NOT gonna take "NO" as an answer! End of discussion."

"_Wha-hey!"_

Before Nico could halt him, Emu slammed the monitor's "off" button, ending the transmission. It let out a loud cracking sound enough to give an impression that he completely broke it.

"Oh God… I'm gonna need a psychotherapist for this schtick…" He parched and sat on a nearby chair, clearly not used to being so.

"Well…that was intense." Matsubara said, breaking the quiet settling in the room.

"Yeah, tell me about it. they're both equally hard to handle with." Emu bemoaned.

"I had never expected you to display such behavior, Intern. Still, I respect you for putting up with them that way." Hiiro said.

Emu sighed. "Yeah, I appreciate that. I'm just…you know, tired of putting up with them. Gotta let out some steam somehow, or else I'll blow at the worst possible time."

"But I still don't understand. Why pushing so far for this cooperation if they don't even want to?" Hiiro wondered

"It's because… I just want to take the responsibility with my own strength. All these past few months fighting while tending to the patients at the same time… makes me feel like I just wanna do something better for once in a while, y'know?" Hiiro widened his eyes upon hearing Emu's profound explanation. "So far, I've been doing nothing but being too soft on them. Like okay, they annoy me a lot, but I ain't gonna give up on them. They're the only ones who can help us to advance Kamen Rider Chronicle. I'm sure of that."

"Advancing the game? I see…" Meteora said.

"What is it, Meteora?" Selesia asked.

"I remember Salty once said that Emu is considered as an NPC in Kamen Rider Chronicle, thus why the Bugsters could still return over and over again. that being said, only Ride Players could completely defeat them and perhaps, finish the game." She reminded.

"Ditto." Emu pointed at the white-haired girl.

"And that Taiga is the only one that Nico will listen to, isn't it?"

"Yep. They're practically partners that we need to grind more to recruit, though. Not only that, Nico is exceptional. Like me, she could easily tackle Bugsters away, and even defeat a high-leveled one the first time she became a Ride Player. It was like her life depends on it. that's why we still let her operate the Gashat since day one." Emu explained, running a hand through his hair. "Wish I could talk to her more, but I need to get past her annoyingly thick head of hers if I ever want a chance on that. I was wrong to act like a wimp back then. But no more. I'm a Kamen Rider. I can give anyone a special disciplinary treatment if needed be."

"By special disciplinary you mean nagging?"

"Yeah, I'll keep on nagging them until they decided to join us, period!"

"I can see why you need to be so hard on them." Selesia said. "Someone has to keep a team in line. That's just how a party leader does it."

"Yeah, a leader. Maybe I have to start viewing myself in that way…or maybe I already did without noticing it."

"Well, your actions say a lot about it." She turned to her creator. "See that, Matsubara? Emu's really amusing. I'm starting to feel like I won't regret ever coming to this world if I can meet people like him."

"I have to agree on that, too." Haima added on. "Nothing good ever comes out if we're only staying in our comfort zone."

"Away from comfort zone, huh? Maybe that's the only way to get out of my writer's block." Matsubara commented.

"By the way, Hiiro, c'mere." Emu gestured his fellow doctor to him. he gave him a particular yellow Gashat that both of them recognized well. "The next time you see Taiga, I want you to give him this as a bargain token."

Hiiro widened his eyes in surprise. "This Gashat…where did you get it?"

"Who else, but Koboshi? Said that he found it and some others near our late CEO's desk. He managed to snatch them away when Amagasaki… or rather Lovelica had an appointment with us the other day and sent them right to my front door as a package."

"I'm not quite sure about this myself. Do you think he'd just accept it?"

"Still not convinced by my plan?" Emu sighed, noticing his fellow doctor's uncertainty in his face.

"How could I not? What you're doing is basically barking at a wall. Truth is, I want to believe in you that this could work, but we have zero guarantee in this matter. Are you seriously implying that we just have to push through like this?" Hiiro questioned.

"Hiiro my man, look, there's nothing in this world that can be completely done instantly. Everything takes progress and patience, just like how we're dealing with patients and their families. Especially kids..." Emu said the last part with a bit of a dread. "'Sides, when I lost my memory back then and completely shifted into my full genius gamer mode, did you ever bail me out that whole time?"

"No... no, I didn't." Hiiro answered after a short pause.

"And why is that?"

"Because I want to believe in you. You're the only one who can solve many problems easily. And when it comes to our Kamen Rider gig... you're the best man I've ever known for the job."

"Then trust me. This'll work just fine. and if he's still resisting, well…let's just say that my insurance is at Level 99." He patted the surgeon's shoulder and winked.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

"Hmph! Seriously!" Nico pouted angrily. "What. The hell. Is WRONG with him!?"

"Maybe it's your fault to begin with? I recall you pushed him at least two or three times that day. Guy could get some concussion with him." Taiga pointed out and deadpanned.

"Oh shut it! Now you're blaming me?!"

"Still, I was kinda surprised to see this side of him. first, he's a wimp and next he's… an authoritarian wimp. Not sure is that's the right word."

"He's a wimp, through and through! And now he's trying to act all mighty! That's just annoying, you know!" Nico retorted childishly, complete with arms crossing her chest.

"As much as I'd like to agree on that, it also makes him hard to read from here on. I say we keep doing our thing and see if he's serious about his bluff or not."

"If you say so…" Nico then got up from her seat and went outside. "I'm gonna look for a fresh air, see if I can either shop some stuff or kick some Bugster ass along the way."

"Sure thing. Just report to me if you see any of those Creations again."

"Okey-dokey!"

And with that, the clinic partners went on their own businesses. As for Taiga, he leaned back on his chair, thinking about what Emu had just said about reeling them in. Despite being unsure of what good that could bring for him and Nico, he was a bit curious by the young man's sudden change of behavior.

It was as if he knew more than he was willing to tell him back then. He probably had been thinking through of how their cooperation could benefit both sides, seeing how eager he was unlike the earlier days. There was no sight of uncertainty in his eyes, only anger, exasperation, and a straight forward determination to bring the likes of him… and even the opposing Hiiro together.

And so, he worked on the clinic before closing it to take a walk for himself. Besides, all he could do was to play the game, whether he would comply to Emu or his own terms.

* * *

After the heating discussion, Emu Hojo decided to take a breather and some snacks to rejuvenate his spirit. Being both a pediatrician and a Kamen Rider was surely tough, especially when it comes to handling unwilling recipients. He was thankful that his former profession helped him to cope up with a lot of burdensome pressure. As once again proven as he took Matsubara and the two Creations away from the CR and to a certain hangout spot where they could discuss their next move, with Hiiro unavailable at the moment due to his schedule.

"Ahh, finally…some good snacks to fuel up a doctor's tired mind!" Emu proclaimed with a relieved sigh while sipping on a soda, appreciating that there were no burger-based Bugsters to interrupt him now.

"You sure do enjoy them just like how Hiiro had with his cakes." Selesia commented as she took one of the snacks, a jelly donut, and ate it.

"'Course I do! This is one of life's simplest pleasures, for one to enjoy a good, tasty snack time after a long day of hospital work."

"Although, this is quite extraordinary too. The way shops sell their snacks wrapped nicely in food packs, it sure keeps the quality of the food at its prime." The redhead observed before finishing off donut with one more bite.

Emu chuckled at this. "Years of food gathering and food producing gave off humanity the best results on preserving them. Though that makes me wonder, how does Earthmelian food tastes?"

"As far as I'm concerned, they're nothing like this." Selesia answered after swallowing.

"So what are we going to do after this?" Matsubara asked, putting down in own drink.

"Mr. Matsubara, do you happen to have any associates on your own? A person whom we could discuss our matters with?" Meteora asked as she chewed her first bite of her third hamburger.

"Maybe a fellow creator could do." Emu added on.

"A fellow creator, hmm?" Matsubara rubbed his chin in a deep thought. "I think I might know someone who can work on the basic principle of…imaginative thought processing, if what you said about human imagination is right. Although, she's not exactly a creator like me. She's an illustrator of Vogelchevalier."

"Illustrator?" Selesia asked, paying more attention with the name of her story.

"It's the person who helped visualized the world you're in. including how you, the people and the mechs look like when the audience sees it." Emu explained in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I see…but, is the word "mechs" always how Earth people describe my Vogelchevalier?" Questioned the princess, scratching her head in confusion, "We usually just called them giants, though."

"Anything that is big, has machines, and worked with human pilot is called mechas. More or less, it's like my Robots Gamer armor you saw."

"The one who gives shape to our world… interesting." Meteora commented after finishing her third burger and reaching out for her fourth.

"I know, right?" Agreed Selesia.

"But first, how about I invite you guys to my home? Figure I could give you guys more insight about things go for us content creators and at least, to thank you for treating me." Masubara Offered as he wiped his mouth his a napkin.

Upon this statement, Emu couldn't hold back a true nerdy grin.

"An invitation by Vogelchevalier's creator and an exclusive seminar? Man, how could I say no to that?"

* * *

The watch on Taiga Hanaya's left wrist indicated that it was 3.55 P.M as he was sitting on a bench in the city's park.

The white-streak haired former doctor couldn't help but to think as to how he should respond to Emu's demand. Even until this very moment, he still couldn't find himself working together with the CR personnel. The unlicensed doctor kept on staring his Bugster detector device reminiscing his earlier days as a doctor.

Somehow, Emu's eagerness to protect people's lives reminded him of his past self a lot actually, even much more when he took his demand to the count. It was like he wouldn't give him any room to not cooperate. However, he was still just a kid, even inexperienced at some capacity. He couldn't bring himself to leave the leadership to him, let alone cooperating with that bratty surgeon who kept on nagging him about how he is unworthy of becoming a doctor.

Just as Taiga was still lost in his thoughts, an unfamiliar man with glasses and grayish red hair approached him, uttering a name that was surprisingly very familiar to him.

"So, you're the man Aliceteria kept on talking about."

Noticing the man's posture and on edge from the name just dropped, Taiga quickly put himself in caution while keeping his cool. "From the looks of it, you're hardly an inspector of the city's police department. No one's wearing that kind of coat, especially during summer season." The ex-doctor then leaned forward from his sitting position, "So, here for my head, aren't you?"

"Please, don't associate me with such barbaric manner." Was the reply he got as the older man pushed his glasses forward, "Although if you put it that way, then the military uniform girl's orders match up with it."

"You mean THAT Bugsterina? Judging how you called her, I doubt she ever told you her real name." Taiga openly speculated.

"I respect her privacy, mind you." Blitz then pulled his gun out of his coat, aiming it right towards the man's head. "Now that and ridiculous names aside…I believe I must put you down for good. For the sake of my world, that is."

_**GASHACON MAGNUM!**_

Having already had his Gamer Driver on by the time the older man arrived, Taiga responded by taking out his own weapon, delivering the same gesture at the Creation which quickly turned into a standoff.

The two gunslingers of both worlds held their guns tightly and never took any second to throw their glares off. Each were waiting for the right time to strike as anything could happen at any moment from the point where they were still standing.

Taiga then sent off the words "You can try" as his challenge.

* * *

Hiiro had finally finished his daily shift and walked down the streets of the city in his doctor's coat, deciding to hand off anymore important details of paperwork to his assistants, Satsuki and Mizuki for the day.

The surgeon had been pondering about Emu's proposition, or rather demand, considering how the intern delivered it. Hiiro was still not sure about whether he should let Emu do as he pleased or not due to this kind of behavior being too similar to how he acted after his status as patient zero of the Bugster Virus was revealed, the memories of how out of control "M" could be was still fresh in the brunette's mind.

But Hiiro knew that influence had grown more significantly ever since the Creations came. Before long, he wouldn't be able to dodge his way out of the young man's control over him, especially since he, of all people, was tasked to persuade that unlicensed doctor and his nagging brat to join their ranks. Despite this however, Hiiro still wanted to believe that Emu and him could solve the matters that had transpired, be it Kamen Rider Chronicle, Bugsters, or rampaging Creations. At least, he could only wish for it to be true at all times.

The surgeon suddenly felt a tingling sensation on the back of his right shoulder along with noise of wing flaps.

"Lord Brave, I presume?"

"No wonder why it was so noisy back here." Hiiro replied, being able to completely keeping his cool even discounting the fact he had already been accustomed these latest strange occurrences thanks to his time the strange life of a Kamen Rider. He turned to the person in question, which turned out to be Aliceteria on her pink-winged horse - or perhaps Pegasus steed? - and responded dispassionately, "You may call me Kamen Rider Brave and it would be very appreciated on my end if you lay down your weapon from my face."

"To my enemies, kindness is off my books. By the order of the Military Uniform Princess and for the sake of my world's safety, I hereby order your execution!"

Hiiro silently put on his Gamer Driver as a non-verbal acceptance of this challenge, "Just so you know, I've already read your profile, your highness."

_**GASHACON SWORD!**_

Taking out his weapon, Hiiro swung it at the knight's spear which immediately caught her guard off. She quickly pulled her spear back to deliver a thrust at the surgeon, but he quickly used her Pegasus' body to jump away so that he could avoid her strike and maintain his distance from her. Hiiro then stabbed his sword to the ground and took out his Taddle Quest Gashat to proceed to his next move.

_**TADDLE QUEST!**_

"Skill level 2, Henshin!"

_**GASHATTO! GACCHAN! LEVEL UP!**_

_**TADDLE MEGURU! TADDLE MEGURU! TADDLE QUEST!**_

"How bold of you to assume that I wouldn't put up any fight." Brave commented after a flash of digital blue light, donning his Rider armor.

"I have seen how you fight in the previous day. I was simply testing you in the field, as of now." The blonde knight replied fiercely.

"I am afraid there is much of me that you have yet to know." He delivered his cold statement as he took out the _Bakusou Bike_ Gashat. "If you claim yourself to be a knight, then I'm sure you knew the ethics of a duel, don't you?"

_**BAKUSOU BIKE!**_

_**GASHATTO!**_

"In that case, this place isn't appropriate for our fight."

_**KIMEWAZA!**_

_**BAKUSOU CRITICAL STRIKE!**_

Brave revved up his his yellow bike and caused its exhaust tip to let out smokes and flames that disoriented Aliceteria, while giving him the boost he needed to get away from her.

Aliceteria furiously roared, "Come back here, you coward of a knight!" She began to give the Rider a chase after wiping the smokes off of her face. The Pegasus steed that she rode flapped its wings, gaining more speed as they caught up to the fleeing Rider.

However, Brave had another thing in his mind. He pressed the Kimewaza Slot's button to activate its other function.

"Let's see if you can still keep up!"

_**STAGE SELECT!**_

And with the press of a button, both Brave and Aliceteria vanished into a pixel haze.

* * *

The standoff ended when Taiga swept Blitz's gun-holding hand away and kicked him away from him. He fired his weapon and the coated man did the same, which caused their bullets to hit against each other and exploded upon contact. The explosion blew them a few inches away from their position, with Taiga using the smoke to quickly put on his armor.

_**BANG BANG SHOOTING!**_

"Tactics no. 2, Henshin!"

_**GASHATTO! GACCHAN! LEVEL UP!**_

_**BA-BANG-BANG! BANG-BA-BANG! YOW! BANG BANG SHOOTING!**_

Snipe rose out from the smoke and charged towards his enemy. He fired his Gashacon Magnum at Blitz, in which the latter swiftly dodged, the two soon engaging in close combat.

Blitz threw his left fist at Snipe's gut, but while the Rider flinched, he was able to endure the pain thanks to his armor and proceeded to shoot the Creation in his face. Blitz managed to dodge it until the blast only grazed his right cheek, taking the chance to hold on Snipe's right arm and slammed him down to the ground. He pinned the armored warrior down with his left foot and pulled the latter's arm that he was holding.

However, Snipe managed to break his hold with his sheer strength alone, and in turn, slammed Blitz himself down. The fictional man then rolled back to regain his composure and shot Snipe with his special "Gravity Bomb" round.

An explosion occurred because of it, and Blitz set his sights to make sure if he succeeded, only for him to see Snipe using his yellow cape to create a beehive barrier that protected him from the explosion.

"Interesting. I can see why she put a greater interest in you. Kamen Rider, isn't it?" Blitz complimented, reloading.

"I'm Kamen Rider Snipe. And I never thought I'd also fight a fictional gunslinger like you your kind... Blitz Tokar."

"Hmph. So you knew from the moment we met."

"What can you say? My armor holds an entire database of references, including the pop-culture kind. Along with Nico's indoctrination..." Snipe replied, muttering his last part with a bit of a dread. "After all, this world is where YOURS is created. So it begs the question on what's EXACTLY you're after on Earth?"

"The power to end the suffering of my world. And YOURS is the source of it."

"Including civilians? Last time I checked, your "friend" seems hellbent on chasing her creator who was minding his own business like any ordinary person."

"Civilian is always their guise to hide their tremendous power along with their selfish desires. I intend to end it, mind you." Blitz explained as he pointed his gun at the Rider once more.

"That IS twisted. Even for my taste." The Rider proceeded to change their arena with his Kimewaza Slot. He pressed the button quickly as he paid no attention to the location he chose.

_**STAGE SELECT!**_

Once Snipe pressed the button, and in a burst of digital transformation, he and Blitz were immediately transported into what appeared to be a medieval environment: a large castle that was decorated with several Energy Items and some pixel-like structures that were embedded into the castle and the grasslands. The two were currently standing on the castle's upper floor as they heard the sounds of clashing weapons, flapping wings, and a revving bike.

"There's an ongoing fight?" Snipe muttered in surprise as he and Blitz turned to see the source of the sound.

The sounds came from Brave and Aliceteria, who were riding a Bike Gamer and a Pegasus respectively, the other Kamen Rider carefully dodging Aliceteria's raining and piecing spear blasts from above, creating small explosions along the grasslands.

The two eventually reached the castle, with Brave entering it with his bike and Aliceteria going to the upper floors, suspecting that the blue Rider would eventually use it to his advantage.

"I don't know what sorcery you have that brought us to this location, but cowering inside that castle won't help you get away from me!" The knight then chanted her weapon's mantra. "**Gotz von Berlichingen!** With the power of the star of dawn, let loose the arrows that defeat evil!"

Aliceteria's spear released several bolts of lightning that wrecked some of the castle's upper section as Brave still rode his bike inside. The bolts reached inside the castle, prompting the Rider to accelerate faster before the bolts could reach him.

Brave succeeded in reaching the castle's rooftop, but Aliceteria's relentless strikes had yet to cease. Once she saw the blue knight, she fired her weapon once more, aiming to stop Brave on his tracks by slowly focusing the lightning bolts to close off the Rider's route.

"What a troublesome lady. But still...!"

_**KIMEWAZA!**_

_**BAKUSOU CRITICAL STRIKE!**_

Using the Kimewaza Slot and the Bike Gamer's empowered exhaust tip, Brave jumped with his bike towards Aliceteria, catching her by surprise. The Bike Gamer rammed the Pegasus in mid-air as Brave hit the knight and knocking her off of her steed.

"Rosewing!" She called out in distress her horse's name as she came crashing down and de-summoned her pegasus, turning it into a blue haze. Aliceteria soon hit the ground in front of Blitz, who covered his eyes once it happened.

Meanwhile, Brave was still falling mid-air. He quickly used his armor's OS to operate his unmanned bike and summoned several chocolate blocks as its track. The Bike Gamer's wheels were also empowered with cartoonish lightning which increased the bike's speed as it raced through the track and kept the bike going straight.

"Gah!"

Brave managed to get on his bike once more and set a course for a U-turn to increase its momentum. Witnessing Snipe and Blitz below him, Brave rode his bike faster once he reached the castle's ground. As Snipe jumped away from the bike's tracks, Brave jumped out of his bike and used it as his battering ram against the two Creations, which he already set it to self-destruct upon contact and caused an explosion that seemingly swallowed his targets.

Noticing the soldier Rider, Brave brushed the dust off of his armor and nonchalantly quipped, "I never thought I'd mimic the local gangsters' unhealthy hobby. Perhaps I should make it mine, don't you agree?"

"Well, you're one helluva crazy bastard yourself." Snipe scoffed. "The hell were you thinking pulling up a stunt like that? This is more like a thing for that brat."

"For once, I have to agree that the intern's bad influence got the better of me. and soon, you will."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means-"

"YOU LUNATIC!"

The Riders' attention were drawn towards the source of the deafening roar. It came from the knight, one Aliceteria February, who was more than not pleased by the number Brave did to her.

"HOW DARE YOU FIGHT ME WITH SUCH UNSIGHTLY MANNER! YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO MY ROSEWING, MONGREL!"

"Do you ALWAYS have to be so loud?" Blitz complained while standing up, groaning as he the impact of the wounds inflicted on his entire body.

Brave sighed and continued on as if he didn't hear the other two, "It means, I'm going to recruit you as per the intern's suggestions."

"And if I don't?"

"As much as I'd like to agree on that notion, I'm starting to know better than to mess with the young intern. Besides... I'm sure you know what he means when he said about Level 99."

"Level 99?" Snipe gulped upon hearing it, but he quickly turned his attention towards their enemies. "Like I need you to tell me!"

* * *

Still walking along the busy streets with his companions, Emu stretched out his hands and said, "Man, can't wait to see the look on Nico's face once she knows whose house I'm going to!"

"Are you still sure that getting her and Taiga to join us is going to work? I still don't take them as the cooperative type." Selesia asked by his side.

"All the more reason to coerce them into joining us, isn't it?" The words from the young man cause Selesia to raise her eyebrows, unsure if she should consider it a good thing. "Okay, maybe "coercing" is too far. Look, all I'm saying is that people like them need to be kept on a tight leash. I don't care if someone's gonna say that this is the most controversial life decision I've taken, so long as they could behave, I have no qualms for it."

"Very well. I might still need your guide in the matters of this world since you know it best, but you can count on me if things get harder."

"It's always in the job description."

"Hey guys, look!"

Matsubara pointed towards the presence of two girls. One was none other than Nico Saiba and the other was seen dragging her hand towards the group, but through the other girl's purplish long-sleeved schoolgirl uniform, both Emu and Matsubara immediately recognized who the girl is, although the latter still had a trouble in recalling it.

"Yoohoo~!"She greeted, all sharp teeth.

"Are you greeting us? Can we help you with something?" Meteora spoke up, standing in front of the group.

"We just wanna tag along! We've been looking for someone to keep us company." The girl answered cheerfully.

"Hey, I recognize that look! It's from, uhh...umm..."

Emu halted the creator. "I know. Leave this to me. I need to find out what she wants first."

"Eh, no! I just...I mean we're just-!" Nico immediately noticed the particular young man who approached them. "YOU!"

"You..." Emu returned Nico's intense glaring. However, Emu suddenly returned to his casual, polite persona. "So you two are good friends already."

"WE'RE NOT FRIENDS!" Nico rejected furiously.

"Aww, don't be so mean will you, Nico? After all, I know exactly what I want to discuss and who I want to discuss with! Including you, Nico!" The violet girl lowered her tone while maintaining her sly grin. "And you...Emu Hojo."

For an instant, Emu felt a chilling dread crawling down on his back. Still, he tried his best to keep his composure intact. "I'd appreciate it if you don't stray from the discussion...Magane Chikujoin."

Matsubara finally had his answer. "That's right! she's Magane-EEEHHH!?"

* * *

The two begrudgingly collaborating Kamen Riders were pitted against the powerful Creations Bugsterina had enlisted to her conquest. Brave took on Aliceteria as Snipe went on against Blitz. A perfect setup, one would say.

Brave clashed his Gashacon Sword against Aliceteria's lance, surprised to find out about his opponent's herculean strength from how much weight she was able to put on her weapon. It could also be that Brave was simply using his Level 2 form, and that Aliceteria's strength was quite stronger than most Bugster generals he fought. She was also able to block most of her blind spots accurately whenever Brave tried to aim for one, even a graze from his Gashacon Sword wasn't enough to make her flinch.

Seeing that his usual tactics would not do in this fight, Brave resorted to a more unorthodox swordsman style, in which he begun to also use his feet to kick Aliceteria's weapon away whenever he had the chance so that he could use his other foot to kick her away, and next, expose her to his sword attack.

However, she was swift enough to regain her composure and blocked his kick with her bare left hand and threw the Rider away, visibly irritated with Brave's manner of fighting. The Rider then pressed his weapon's "B" button several times to ignite the flames from his sword. The Rider managed to push Aliceteria back for a bit, but she still persisted with her seemingly indomitable will.

"You seem to have quite a strength for a coward. Such a shame you have a foul manner at using it." She chastised, frowning in disapproval.

"I believe you're confusing coward with crafty." Brave countered unabashedly, readying himself for their fight to continue as the sounds of Snipe engaging Blitz kept ringing in the background.

Both of their weapons were aimed against each other and fired accordingly to each of their targets. However, BOTH being expert gunsmen meant that Snipe wouldn't be able to take Blitz down easily. Blitz could read each of of the Kamen Rider's bullet patterns which allowed him to be able to dodge away from his attacks, much as what was the Rider was doing.

However, Snipe was also adept in hand-to-hand combat when it comes to hitting his target point blank, something that he was actually fond of doing most of the time. He almost had the older man at his mercy when he tried to do so, but Blitz was able to dodge his blast in time, giving him the chance to slam the Rider down and kick him in his gut.

_**ZU-KYUN!**_

Pushing through the pain, the Rider pressed the "A" button to change his Gashacon Magnum into rifle mode while withstanding the hit and caught the Creation's leg before he forcefully rolled his body to counter slam Blitz and jumped away from him. Snipe then inserted his Gashat into the weapon's slot to activate his finisher.

"Let's see how you handle _this!_"

_**GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!**_

_**BANG BANG CRITICAL FINISH!**_

Snipe fired his weapon right towards Blitz who was still lying in the ground. When the yellow attack impacted, blast caused an explosion and let out a smoke upon contact.

Snipe lowered his weapon for a bit as he checked on his enemy, only to find Blitz had already activated his watch to fly away from the blast and smacked Snipe's rifle away. The Creation soon fired his Gravity Bomb at Snipe's back with him unable to block it with his cape, successfully dealing greater damage to the Rider.

"Urgh! Y-You can fly?" Snipe grunted with a knee on the ground.

"Just so you know, I am trained to deal with supernatural beings, along with the likes of you." Blitz stated casually as he reloaded his gun.

Meanwhile, as Brave's Gashacon Sword was still locked against his opponent's spear, Aliceteria broke the lock and punched the Rider with her left gauntlet, launching Brave far back into Snipe's position. Once he stopped skidding into the ground, he grunted as the knight Rider tried to maintain his composure. With some considerable effort, Brave lifted himself into a kneeling stance.

"And there goes nothing for us." Snipe retorted.

"They're tough..."

"What, giving up already?"

"Quiet. I'm just getting started."

"Guess being M's lackey really took a toll on you, huh? I knew all he was doing was making you weak."

"That has nothing-!"

Brave then suddenly stopped his words as he just remembered what the intern said to him before about this kind of issue:

_"Everything takes progress and patience, just like how we're dealing with patients and their families. Especially kids..."_

And just with Emu Hojo's words of wisdom alone, Kamen Rider Brave quenched out his ego and took out the yellow Gashat offering it to his bitter rival, Snipe.

"What if I can give you more toys to play with?"

"Huh?"

Snipe took a good look at the yellow Gashat that Brave offered. It had a sticker that depicted a tiger, along with it was its game title, _Night of Safari_.

"How the hell did you...? So now you're bribing me, huh?" Snipe snorted.

Brave sighed. "More or less. This is the intern we're talking about. Admit it Snipe: he solved many problems that both of us couldn't in such a short time. That's why I want to believe that his game plan could work. In both of our interest that is."

"Hmph. Never took you as the sentimental type."

"Just so you know, I haven't excused your incompetence as a doctor. But, I'm willing to remedy my judgement if you display any sorts of good behavior to anyone you meet. The last thing we both wanted is for the young intern named Emu Hojo to send his giant iron fist at us, especially since you're holding the Gashat he entrusted you with. And, as for me..."

The knight-like Rider then took out another one of his prized possession, a brighter yellow Gashat with a dragon ornament on it bottom. He then pressed its button and the Gashat spelled out its title.

_**DRAGO KNIGHT HUNTER Z!**_

_**GASHATTO!**_

"I believe you know what happens when you try to cross him out, don't you?"

"Figured as much." Snipe said as he also pressed his Gashat's button.

_**NIGHT OF SAFARI!**_

_**GASHATTO!**_

"Whatever trickery you're planning won't work against me!" Aliceteria barked from the other side of the battlefield.

"Yeah right, why don't you give it a shot, then?" Snipe challenged.

"As you WISH!"

The blonde knight fired her spear's lightning bolt towards the Riders. The blast was suddenly blocked by a presence of what appeared to be two foreign creatures –to the Creations- aiding the Riders.

The first one was a black mechanical dragon with three horns in its head, two short ones on its forehead and a longer one on its nose. Its black eyes glared menacingly at the enemies it was facing against, complete with pink scar-like lines running down from them. The dragon's most notable traits other than its claws and wings were the right arm sword and left arm railgun that it carried, unlikely weapons for a dragon to carry. Its bulky black body was painted with various decals; on its torso were pink stripes on the right and stars on the left, blue stripes on the body's right section, and yellow tribal marks on the left section.

The second one was a saber-toothed tiger that mostly had the same type of body as the black dragon, only that its color was entirely that of a cream-colored tiger, complete with its orange spots and brown accents. It also had the same claws, blade, and railgun –albeit the two's textures were rougher than the dragon- but of course, it only lacked the wings which had the tiger went on all fours on the ground.

"W-What sorcery is this!?" Aliceteria gasped wide-eyed.

"A dragon and a tiger? How peculiar..." Blitz muttered.

"I'll leave you a note: it's level 4." Brave noted before proceeding to activate his belt's command. "Proceeding to Skill Level 5."

"Tactics no. 4."

_**GACCHAN! LEVEL UP!**_

_**TADDLE MEGURU! TADDLE MEGURU! TADDLE QUEST! A GACHA! DO-DO-DRAGO! NA-NA-NA-KNI~GHT! DRA-! DRA-! DRAGO KNIGHT HUNTER! Z!**_

_**BA-BANG-BANG! BANG-BA-BANG! YOW! BANG BANG SHOOTING! A GACHA! LION, SHIMAUMA, KIRIN! MAYONAKA NO JUNGLE! (HEY!) NIGHT OF SAFARI!**_

The dragon and the tiger's mechanical bodies soon dismembered into what appeared to be parts of two armor sets that consisted of a helmet, full torso armor, a pair of full arm guards and leg armors. They soon attached themselves into the respective users' bodies. Each armor parts were locking into their base jumpsuit-like armors and gave them new forms to combat their new adversaries.

Brave finally donned his Hunter Quest Gamer Level 5 armor and Snipe with his Safari Shooting Gamer Level 4 armor. the former then commented on his rival, "I must say, the intern sure know how to make good arrangements."

"Tiger and Taiga, huh…this is the second time I've had a peculiar thing happened to me." Snipe said, imagining Nico cackling in his mind's eye.

"Now then..." Brave turned to the Creations. "Pardon for the wait. now let's continue where we left off. But I must warn you all: there's nothing that my blade can't cut."

"And I'm gonna end this mission with you out of the picture." Snipe challenged.

"Interesting..." Blitz muttered.

Aliceteria gritted her teeth as she charged towards her adversary. Her lance met against Brave's Dragon Blade. The Rider also used the Railgun as a lighting baton to bat her lance away from his reach and give him the chance to strike her with his blade. Sparks flew from her armor as she jumped back, preparing her lance once again to shoot a lightning bolt right towards the Rider. Brave countered it with his Dragon Railgun that he charged up as soon as Aliceteria aimed her wepon at him. The blasts collided against each other and let out a dust.

"I can't believe how tainted you are!" Aliceteria spat as the dust cleared.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"My people died fighting against the dreaded dragon that terrorized our kingdom! To think you're using the power of a dragon to win a fight... I detest such mockery to my kingdom's sacrifice!"

"So you fight dragons, then." Brave said in a tone that was _feigning _interest. "Just so you know, whatever happened in your world doesn't always apply to mine. I will use whatever I have at hand to protect the innocents."

"Innocents? You refer yourselves, GODS as INNOCENTS!?" She growled in anger. "As expected of a knight of true dark; you twist everything for your own gain!"

"You're tenacious, I'll give you that. But it seems that instead of hospital, I must put you into an asylum." Brave declared as he brandished each of his weapons that let out sparks from both.

At the same time as that battle was occurring, Snipe in his new armor engaged Blitz, who was floating mid-air with the armor's railgun that shot energy nets.

The latter's movements were fast enough to escape a human's normal eyes, but Snipe's Safari Gamer equipment enhanced his eyesight to predict Blitz's flight and bullet trajectories in near-perfect accuracy, which gave the elderly Creation a trouble in avoiding his attacks. Blitz retaliated by firing his gun as Snipe rushed closer into him, but he was also unable to land a shot due to the Rider's agile movements akin to that of a tiger, as the armor's motif suggests.

Snipe jumped towards Blitz once he was close enough and aimed his arm blade at him. Blitz dodged it out by strafing to the right, but Snipe expected this and used his boot's thrusters to compress the air on his feet, enabling him to jump in mid-air as if he was jumping from a stepping stone. Snipe managed to catch up with Blitz thanks to this ability and toppled the Creation down with his blade.

The fight continued on the ground with Blitz resorting to his Gravity Bomb as Snipe was closing on for the kill. He shot the Rider and sent him a few inches away from him as well. The ground beneath him was cratered as he fell down.

"Okay..." Snipe grunted as he got up. "Should've expected that from you."

"It's rare for me to see a beast that isn't feral in my life. Combine its raw power with a tactician's mind like yours and my agency will have a run for their money." Blitz said as he rolled his shoulders.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"All the more reason to exterminate you first." Blitz aimed his gun at the Rider once more.

Despite such a claim, the older man knew that both of of them were already put in a stalemate. Snipe might had himself already enhanced with the Safari Gamer armor, but knowing the fact that Blitz Tokar was a protagonist of his own story, he might surely be able to overcome his predicament in many ways possible just like how anime protagonists would. Adding that factor alone against his own strength would've unnecessarily prolonged the fight. Moreover, he had to end the fight quickly since he still had more pressing matters to attend, either that day or tomorrow.

The navy soldier Rider clenched his fists as he aimed his weapons on the Creation and sharpened his eyes, all the while thinking on how he could solve his problem as quickly as possible. Then again, it would've been such a shame if he lost the fight after he got his free upgrade from the ones that he always underestimated. Which is why, he needed something unpredictable to the enemies...and even himself.

* * *

On the other side of the battlefield, Brave, in his Hunter Gamer armor, fought against Aliceteria. His Dragon Blade and Railgun clashed against the knight's lance, sparks flew from their weapons' contact. Brave was seemingly able to keep up with Aliceteria's herculean strength. That is, until Aliceteria decided to use another trick from her sleeve.

"**Gotz Von Berlichingen!** I summon you with my gauntlet! **Donnerschlag des Jegers**, reveal yourself here!"

The knight chanted upon her left gauntlet as she clashed her weapon against Brave's. Purple electricity gathered into her left palm, forming a small lightning orb that she soon clenched tightly. Her gauntlet was soon imbued with a powerful lightning and she swung it towards the Rider, who then shielded himself with his own armed gauntlets.

The sheer force of her strength sent Brave flying as lightning sparks hit his body. a loud thunder crack was heard from the attack. The Rider was sent grinding through the ground and landed not too far from Snipe's position.

"Give it up, you foul knight! Do so, and I'll make sure that your death will be painless!" Aliceteria warned, pointing her lance to her enemy.

"What she said. I guess." Blitz nonchalantly followed.

"Well damn...it looks like the odds _are_ stacked against us." Snipe grunted as he held back his pain from the earlier strike.

However, the surgeon still refused to yield. He got back up on his feet using his armed gauntlets with a greater determination than Snipe thought Brave would've only amounted to.

"Death? Don't make me laugh..." the blue knight Rider grunted. "Just so you know...I am the world's greatest doctor, and my JOB is to heal my PATIENTS so that they could live another day! I refuse to let you execute me for such petty reasons if there are still many souls I could save out there!"

"You? A healer? You hardly look like one!"

"And what about you!? Aliceteria February, a proud knight of whatever kingdom you're from, reduced to a mere thug of a madwoman!?" Brave shot back just as fiercely.

"Wh-What did you just-!?"

"You want to save your world, that's fine by me. but I refuse to let the destruction of life be the only way to do it! Not only that, but I doubt Bugsterina is letting you on with her plans." Brave goaded.

"Your world possess the power to safe ours! That's all we want!"

"By KILLING innocents, isn't it!?" The Rider accused, managing to straighten himself up. "That's what she left out from you and the others. You've done nothing but slander your own heroic morals with your own egotistic claims and such despicable act goes against my code as a doctor! That's why, in the name of this world, and those who live in it, I will see to your expulsion form this planet personally!"

"Enough of your prattling! I'll end this real quick!" Aliceteria rejected, anger very visible at the insults thrown her way.

"Geez, aren't you a hasty one, young lady?" Blitz commented.

Ignoring the statement, the blonde knight channeled her gauntlet's lightning energy to her lance's tip, creating a more focused lethal thrust that could possibly pierce through Brave's Hunter Gamer armor.

The Rider could barely hold his stand and his strength wasn't recuperated enough to move away, let alone blocking the strike. Still, it was better that he did the latter rather than doing nothing at all. The only worst case scenario is that this would be his last stand, if nothing else.

Brave could only stand as he watched his adversary gathering more and more energy to deliver the finishing blow. Once it was enough, her lance's tip was empowered and ran through with a purple lightning energy that cracked violently. The Rider then crossed his arms to guard against the impending doom, closing his eyes in acceptance to whatever comes next.

However, it seems that fate has yet another plan for the heroes.

Snipe's darkened and scarred heart throbbed when Brave mentioned about the "doctor's code". It is not everyday that he would hear the surgeon bringing up such matter. Snipe had usually been the "not giving a damn" type of doctor who was only in his job for the money, but this moment caused many questions to run through his mind in a matter of seconds:

Is that truly what the doctor's code is?

_Why_ the hell did he become a doctor in the first place?

Has he been disregarding the patient's well-being just so he could get what he wanted?

If so, then was he any different than the rogue Creations who were hellbent on chasing their creators so that they could accomplish their personal gains?

Of course, the navy soldier Rider refused to be compared with such nonexistent beings and their erratic behaviors, on and off the screen. Perhaps, it was also the time to admit that thanks to the bratty intern's presence, the blue Rider could fare much better than he did in this regard.

And so, Snipe quenched his ego to win his own fight and decided to take another approach. Using his armor's neural command, he folded his arm-mounted weapons to their compact mode and quickly took out the Gashacon Magnum in its rifle mode and the Jet Combat Gashat.

_**GASHACON MAGNUM!**_

_**JET COMBAT!**_

_**GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!**_

_**JET CRITICAL FINISH!**_

The Gashacon Magnum's command conjured several specters of orange fighter jets armed with rockets and a huge gatling gun muzzle at the gun's end. Aliceteria began her assault by charging towards Brave with her weapon pointed at him. Snipe aimed his weapon to where the Creation would dash into and fired exactly where he wanted Aliceteria to be. The blonde knight didn't expect herself to be blown away on her tracks, especially with that kind of attack.

Nor Brave expected to be saved by his own bitter rival, much to his concealed surprise.

"N-no... how dare you-!" The blonde gasped on her knees.

"A surprising turn of events I must say, Snipe." Brave said.

"Don't get me wrong, I didn't do this to save you from your pathetic end."

"Whatever you say. You just want to end this quickly and so am I. Perhaps, I must admit that the intern's presence helped me cope up with your constant babbling." Brave teased.

"The hell did you say!?"

"I say we round 'em up, and this'll be a cinch."

"Don't you dare dodging my question away!"

"But I just answered it." Brave replied nonchalantly.

"Why you...!"

As Snipe glared into the blue Rider, he began to witness something different from him. There was no sign of resentment that he usually put on whenever they met with each other. It was only a pair of eyes that a doctor puts on to get the job done. And it is high time that he do the same.

The navy Rider turned himself into the direction where their enemies at. "Well, you just took the words right out of my mouth. Now let's wrap this up real quick."

Brave grinned beneath his helmet, knowing that for the first time and forever, Snipe was willing to put aside his own pride to solve their problem just like how he did. The two Riders then regrouped and prepared for one last brawl against the rogue Creations.

"I'll have to admit that these Kamen Riders are persistent." Blitz commented as he flew closer to Aliceteria. "Perhaps, the girl was right to not underestimate them."

"Silence! I will not be defeated with such foul tactics. Never again!" she growled deeply while regaining her stand.

"And to think they gave our leader the name "Bugsterina"..."

The Riders charged towards the Creation and they quickly went on with their new tactics. At first Brave and Snipe took on their respective targets, which the Creations might had expected that much; knight against knight, gunsman against gunsman. In the moment of the brawl, Blitz flew back and fired his Gravity Bomb at the lunging Snipe. Brave quickly used Aliceteria's lance that she thrusted upon him as a stepping stone and jumped towards the blast's trajectory, in which he used his Dragon Blade to slice the energy bullet in half. Said halves exploded the moment they hit the ground behind them. Snipe then jumped towards the blonde knight's position using Brave's back as the latter curled up to deliver a double-feet kick at Blitz.

This effectively switched both of the Riders' targets. As Brave duke it out against Blitz in the air, Snipe faced against Aliceteria on the ground. Unlike Brave's calm and composed fighting style, Snipe in his Safari Gamer armor fought like a wild beast to the knight's perception; fast, agile, unrelenting, but it was enough to push her back.

At some point did Aliceteria swung her left gauntlet whenever her lance couldn't reach Snipe in time, but he was fast enough to avoid such heavy blow and kicked her away from him. He would also fire his net railgun to slow Aliceteria's movements, preventing her from using either her lance or her gauntlet while Snipe used the chance to deal more damage to her.

Blitz's current opponent had the same flight capability as he did. Unlike Snipe's constant mid-air dash, Brave's Hunter Gamer armor could easily avoid the Creation's bombardment while engaging in a dogfight. The blue Rider was also armed with his Dragon Railgun that gave the Creation enough trouble in either dodging or tanking its damage.

Soon, it was his fire breath that gave Blitz a total annoyance once the Rider got close enough for the kill. The heat disoriented him as he almost fell to the ground. Blitz quickly loaded his Gravity Bomb and fired it at the approaching Rider. He successfully landed the hit, but soon witnessed that Brave could shrug off the damage thanks to his armor. the Rider delivered a spinning slash that finally sent him to the ground right next to Aliceteria who was downed by Snipe at the time.

"Now!" both Brave and Snipe inserted their Gashats into their respective Kimewaza Slots.

_**GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!**_

_**DRAGO KNIGHT/NIGHT OF**_

_**CRITICAL STRIKE!**_

Both Brave and Snipe's head gears generated a flame sphere and a lightning sphere respectively. they fired their spheres into the air and jumped towards them. once they set their feet into the spheres, they delivered a Rider kick empowered by their respective elements. The Creations were unable to hold their stand and defend themselves against the blow.

The Riders successfully landed a hit on their targets, only to find their finishers being blocked by a blue barrier generated by another presence standing between them and the Creations.

It was none other than the Military Uniform Girl, dubbed as Bugsterina by the heroes.

"What the hell!?" Snipe growled.

"You're-!" Brave gasped.

Using her cutlass and violin, Bugsterina scratched her instrument and sent a shockwave that blew the Riders away. They managed to keep their composure as they landed, but Bugsterina would prove too much for them to handle after their lengthy fight with the other two.

"Just in time eh, young lady?" Blitz stated as he dusted himself off while careful to not press any of his wounds. "You were right about not underestimating them."

"Why are you making so much of an effort for us?" Aliceteria grunted out while still in pain.

"We still have a plan to set in motion. You two are still necessary as my instruments. We must not let it all end here, for the loss of my comrades will hurt me more... more than _they_ are able to do." She referred to the Riders in front of her. Bugsterina then turned to the Riders and greeted them. "It is my utmost pleasure to witness your presence in this world, Kamen Riders. As much as I would like to have a healthy discussion with you, I still have other matters to attend. Let us end this meeting for today. I look forward to our next meeting in the future."

"Healthy discussion, my ass." Snipe scoffed. "Consider all of you lucky today."

"For a human of this world, you sure are a formidable foe, Snipe." Blitz complimented, receiving an audible sneer as a repsonse.

"We shall meet again...Lord Brave." Aliceteria said with a venom on her tone.

"When the time comes, I'll be ready."

And so, the one dubbed Bugsterina scratched her violin once again, causing several cutlasses to spin around the Creations and engulf them with blue pixel hazes. Soon, the Creations disappeared into thin air, and the medieval Game Field shut down and turned the environment to normal, which was the park where Snipe engaged Blitz at. The Riders then powered down by closing their Gamer Driver's cover and taking out their Gashats, returning them to their civilian form.

_**GACHON! GASSHUN!**_

"You'd better not give me empty threats like that." Taiga warned, referring to Hiiro's warning about Emu.

"I'm just giving you his message. However things will go from here will be left to his own discretion. That being said, I'd like to know your answer."

"Let me guess, this is the part where I have to say "yes I'm in" right?" Taiga sighed. His tone still displayed his unwillingness to comply.

"You saw what the Creations are capable of, Hanaya." Hiiro lectured the unlicensed doctor by addressing his last name. "Even Aliceteria and Blitz could put a number to both of us. Not to mention Bugsterina's own strength alone. Who knows what else she could do at this point."

"So what? I ain't backing down from the fight. I'll let them come at me and crush them all at once."

"WE will crush them together." Hiiro emphasized.

"I doubt a wimp like you could keep up with me."

"You-!" Hiiro was about to snap at his rival, but he soon took Emu's words about patience back into his heart once more. He gave a deep breath and proceeded to choose his words wisely. "You know... you could've just said that you wanted to see Emu instead. He's much more competent to babysit you and Nico than me."

"Huh!?"

"My opinion about you still stands, but I believe the intern will sort things out for both of us, here. Work with us in the CR. We'll finish Kamen Rider Chronicle with your help and Nico's. We can prevent more casualties than how we do it alone." Hiiro persuaded.

"Even if you said that, what's in it for us?" Taiga asked again.

"That Gashat I gave you is also my token of trust, along with the intern's. We are using our own effort to strengthen ourselves since the CEO's death. I take it you also wonder as to how I summoned those chocolate blocks and have the Bike Gamer of my own? Or how we were able to conduct theories about the Creations' emergence? That is the proof of what we've become by standing together."

"So, it's basically still a bribe, then?"

"As long as we can reach to an agreement, take it however you will."

Taiga gave the surgeon a short pause, thinking on how he should respond. There might be no telling what kind of shenanigans Emu might come up with, but after the whole living Creation thing that he just got himself into, he surely cannot afford to miss the wild ride they have been into. He finally gave his answer in full consideration.

"I... I'll think about it with Nico."

"Very well. Take all the time you need. Though, I should inform you that Emu is the most eager one to bring the two of you into the fold, so I suggest you to willingly comply to his terms of full co-operation as soon as possible. There is no telling what else he might come up with to fulfill his shenanigans."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"By the way... does "Lord Brave" sound nice to you?"

"Huh? The hell are you talking about?"

Hiiro twirled his white doctor coat in a manner akin to hat of a fantasy dark lord. He then pointed at the unlicensed doctor and demanded with his deepened voice. "You will call me Lord Brave, mongrel."

"Screw you!"

* * *

**(A/N)**

**What's up everyone? And here you have the 3rd chapter of this fanfic!**

**Anyways, I wonder what are your thoughts on the currently on air Kamen Rider Zero-One since it also shared the same producer as Ex-Aid's, being Yuya Takahashi that is. Is it good? Or is it a meh? Personally, I think that the latest one is starting to become more interesting after how seemingly mundane the previous four episodes were (the ones from Thouser's debut, that is). Still, Thouser was cool, though.**

**And yes, from what you can see in this chapter, it's true that there would be more Gashats to appear other than the regular ones that the Riders used. I believe they deserve much more attention, especially since we have so many plans about the other Gashat inclusions in this fanfic and how they all play out in future chapters. Tsukuru Koboshi being the one who snacthed them away from the CEO's office (being Ren Amagasaki as the acting one at the time) is surely the most convenient way of doing it when our heroes are being heavily occupied with Bugsterina and the KR Chronicle emergence. I've also been wanting to do the scene where Drago Knight Hunter Z and Night of Safari Gashats were being used altogether, especially since they shared the same armor type!**

**I'd also like to point out as to how I handled Emu's behavior in this chapter, or perhaps in the entirety of this fanfic. I believe that the canon Emu in the TV show was too timid and lacked enough willpower and resolve to get things done, which is why he couldn't even get Hiiro, Taiga, nor Nico to properly work together with him, with each other, or even bend them to his own will. His interpersonal behavior tends to render his image weaker than the supporting casts, even though he was marketed as the main character in his titular show.**

**That's why I intended to make him stand out more by displaying his gamer, pop-cultural freak personality more, which I think could perfectly in a story where pop culture icons come to life! And also, I'm trying to balance it out with his more rational and reasonable one as a pediatrician, which he then turned it into his resolve in what he's trying to achieve in this chapter. You can also take it as his (and maybe the audience's, if you'd like to) "rant" towards Hiiro and Taiga's lengthy beef along with Nico's bratty behavior that she displayed to him. I mean, who doesn't get really sick with all of that keep going on for like an eternity? No wonder why so many people disliked him because he's to chicken to do anything about his problems.**

**Emu has finally changed his game plan to solve Kamen Rider Chronicle once and for all! Will the others comply to his demand? What else the Creations have in store? How will things come to be with Magane's presence?**

**As always, please leave your comments below and remember. BE CONSTRUCTIVE.**

**Until next time.**


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